Life as they know it
by Tinygoron
Summary: This story takes place at the end and after the HM arc. Things seem well, but who knows? Trouble may arise. Chapter Nine: Training's over, time for the assault on Hueco Mundo! Spoiler warning. Ichihime, Renjirukia, possible others.
1. A bursting dam

Author's Note: This is my first Bleach Fanfiction. I have been thinking about it for a while now, and I just gathered the courage to write it. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or any part of it. Hell, I don't even own bleach detergent.

Chapter One: A Bursting Dam

It wasn't enough, Kurosaki Ichigo thought as he lay on the icy floor of Las Noches. His Bankai had faded from him long ago, and his hollow mask was only a fond memory at this point. Still, he thought, "_It wasn't enough. The story of my life." _His mind carefully scrutinized each memory he contained in his head.

It wasn't enough that he wanted to protect people but couldn't. His mother had to die to drive that point home. It wasn't enough that people made fun of him for seeing ghosts. His hair turned out like his mother's, bright orange, causing several beatings until he learned to fight for himself. It wasn't enough to see ghosts and spirits, he had to have every nasty, roaring, odorous, masked hollow after his spiritually powerful head.

It wasn't enough that he'd found the burden of the Shinigami powers. His friends had to be involved too. All of them, Chad, Inoue, Uryu... they'd been involved in his battles for the sole reason that his life didn't have yet enough suffering.

It wasn't enough that he nearly died regaining his Shinigami powers. A hollow, his exact opposite, had to make a home in his soul, and was looking to conquer.

It wasn't enough that he had achieved bankai and defeated Kuchiki Byakuya with only eight days of real training. Certainly, that wasn't enough. Aizen Sousuke had to throw his entire life into disarray, just for his own purposes.

It wasn't enough that he'd told Inoue that he'd protect her. She left him and her entire life behind. And now, finally, on the cold floor of the throne room of Las Noches, his own power hadn't been nearly enough to stop Aizen.

"_The story of my goddamned life."_ Aizen now stared down at the fallen boy, the same smug grin on his face that he always wore.

"If it's any consolation, Kurosaki Ichigo, you fought better than any captain in all the Seireitei. Still, your power pales in comparison to mine."

Kurosaki Ichigo. How many people called him that, his entire name? He'd lost count. Zaraki. Byakuya. Renji. Ulquiorra. There must've been hundreds. Ichigo was getting tired of it easily.

He did take pride in one thing, though. He'd made Aizen release his zanpakutou. And what a devastating force it was. The sheer illusionary power of Kyouka Suigetsu was enough to destroy any foe, regardless of strength. But still, he hadn't seen his bankai... and Ichigo had used the limits of his powers.

"Such a shame, really. Your attempt was in vain. This young girl... could not be saved," Aizen taunted him, his grin growing into a twisted smile. He walked toward Ichigo and crushed the boy's hand with the sole of his shoe, causing Ichigo to cry out in pain and look toward's Aizen. "I wanted your attention... because truly, you should see this."

Ichigo focused as much as he could in order to say, "Wh-what... are you talking about... you bastard?"

"I'll ignore that comment. Take a look at... this." In Aizen's hands lay the pale, dead form of Inoue Orihime.

Ichigo's eyes widened without his knowing, trying to clarify the picture, as though he had been mistaken. But no matter what he tried, there was no changing the image before him. There was no light in her eyes. "No... it's... it's not," he sputtered, "It can't be..."

"It is. She's dead, and I will bring her back as a hollow first... then an arrancar. Doesn't that sound wonderful?" Aizen smiled at Ichigo once more before laughing to himself.

"Inoue... Inoue!" Ichigo yelled, before exploding in a cry of pure anguish. His screams echoed all throughout Las Noches, making the lesser Arrancar smile at their foe's pain.

"Isn't it a pity, though?" Aizen said, leaning towards her lifeless form. "She was very... beautiful, too..." his face moved towards hers, and planted a kiss directly on her lips.

Ichigo's body convulsed violently for a few seconds at this display, then stopped. "Are you finally dead?" asked Aizen.

A soft, calm voice replied, "You can't do that."

"Pardon?"

"You... cannot do that." A small trace of reiatsu flared up around Ichigo.

"Do what? You mean, this?" He placed another kiss on her lips and laughed cruelly.

"Yes... that. You can't do it." The reiatsu grew slowly.

"On the contrary," said Aizen, raising an eyebrow. "I can do what I want, how I want, whenever I want. I am the one who sits on the throne of heaven! I can do anything." A muffled reply came from Ichigo's form. "Speak up, Kurosaki Ichigo." He attempted to stomp Ichigo's hand again, but the boy had grabbed Aizen's ankle.

Slowly, he rose, using Aizen's body for support, while Aizen himself merely stood, amused at his attempt. "I said... here's where you learn that you can't!" A fist flew from nowhere and smashed Aizen in the face, causing him to drop Orihime's body. Ichigo caught it and after cradling it for a moment, he gently put it down.

Aizen had let himself be hit, intrigued by his foe's revival. "So you want more punishment. That's fine by me."

"There's something you don't get, you stupid, heartless bastard," Ichigo cooly replied. "The whole point of this trip was to come here to get Inoue under every circumstance available. With her body lifeless..." he took Zangetsu from his back. "I have nothing left. That makes me," with a shunpo, he was behind Aizen, "A very, very dangerous man."

He sliced at Aizen. Aizen easily dodged and fired a kidou spell at Ichigo, who deflected it with Zangetsu. "_Remarkable,"_ thought Aizen, "_Without even using his bankai, he deflected a level 99 spell. If I were the research type, I would collect him for study. But that's Zaera-Polo's job."_

Ichigo placed the massive sword in front of him, parallel to the ground. "For what you've done, you will be brought to justice!" he cried, blue energy crackling around him. With one swift motion, he roared, "Ban-kai!"

"_Even though having his bankai forcefully shut down by being near death, he calls upon it once more. What are you, Kurosaki Ichigo?"_ Aizen wondered, watching the explosion of energy before him. As Ichigo emerged with _Tensa Zangetsu,_ Aizen concluded that if he could call upon his bankai once more, he could probably call upon his mask.

Just as he wondered this, Aizen's thoughts were confirmed. Ichigo pulled down his hollow mask and dove at Aizen. "_Getsuga Tenshou!"_ he yelled, swinging the mass of black energy at his enemy.

Aizen easily dodged it. "_All I have to do is evade him for eleven seconds and that little nuisance will be gone. He's already used up about three."_ Ichigo slashed and hacked and thrusted his blade at Aizen, but to no avail. "_Eight... nine... ten... eleven," _He finished counting, and raised a palm to stop the semi-vizard's blade. A second later, he let out a gasp and realized that his hand was cut wide open and Ichigo's mask was still on.

Ichigo too was surprised. "Looks like I've passed my limits," he said to Aizen cooly. "Didn't you once say something about limits for a shinigami? Well, at this point, I don't really care. For I," he pointed his sword towards the sky, "am justice incarnate!" With those words, he dove at Aizen yet again.

"_What's going on...?_" Aizen wondered, "_A second ago, he was more dead than alive. Now, he's moving faster and faster with each passing moment. This isn't possible!"_

"_My konpaku must be getting used to the mask... Well, that's good news," _Ichigo thought to himself. Aizen kept trying to rush towards Orihime's body, perhaps to use it as a shield, but Ichigo kept him away.

With one last mad dash, Aizen began to create his final release. "Ban-" he began, but was cut off by Ichigo.

"Not a chance," Calmly, he cut off Aizen's right arm and said softly, "_Getsuga Tenshou."_

As the energy enveloped Aizen, he managed to say one word: "Impossible," before being disintegrated.

Ichigo landed on the ground next to Orihime's body and sighed. His mask crumbled and his bankai dissipated. He planted Zangetsu next to him in the ground and kneeled, picking up Orihime's body and holding it against his chest. "Why...?" he asked the air, "I won, Inoue. I defeated the bad guy, achieved a new level of power, and everything... the only step is to ride into the sunset, isn't it?" Tears began spilling down his cheeks and on to her arrancar uniform.

When he first learned she'd left, it was as though an essential part of his life had been ripped away. She always smiled, he thought. Even when times were down, she'd always play the cheerful part. He'd begun taking that smile for granted, thinking that her laughter, her glorious laughter, would always be there. But now, it was gone... the sunshine had been stolen from his world, and it would never be daylight again.

In Ichigo's interior world, Zangetsu and the hollow sat on one of the sideways buildings, looking towards the sky. It had been pouring rain all day for days, and now, things only got worse. A typhoon was settling in. Zangetsu's long hair, damp from the storm, drooped around his eyes. "I'm sorry, Ichigo. I failed you. We both did... and now, it shall rain in this world forever." He glanced at the hollow. It did not have its usual twisted smile. Instead, a frown covered his face.

The hollow glanced back and called through the torrential winds, "Hey, what's with the look?"

Zangetsu sighed. "I just thought you wouldn't feel remorse for him."

"Hey. I may hate the king, but I'm still a part of him... and this hurts me too. And it's not like I enjoy being drenched for days."

Zangetsu nodded. "Right... my mistake," he said emotionlessly and resumed trying to block out the sounds of pouring rain and clashing thunder.

Nell emerged from behind the pillar Ichigo had instructed her to hide behind. "Ichigo...?" the young arrancar asked quietly. "Whath the matter?" She walked around the huddled form of Ichigo and saw why he was so torubled. "Oh no... that lady... wath she a fwiend of yourth?"

"Yes, Nell... she was. A very good friend and a good person."

"I'm thorry... she thure wath pwetty, though."

"Yes. Always."

Suddenly, a voice said to him, "What are you crying for?"

Ichigo turned to see Abarai Renji carrying the huddled, shivering form of Rukia. Next to them was a limping Chad and a scratched up Uryu. Pesshe and Dondo stood behind the group, but rushed forward and greeted Nell. Ichigo's rage rose instantly. "What the hell are you talking about? She's _dead! D-E-A-D,_ dead!" His tears began gushing more quickly. "And... we failed... we just failed."

"Idiot," replied Renji. Ichigo began to retort, but Renji cut him off. "Take a closer look at what you're crying over."

All of a sudden, Orihime's form began melting away, leaving nothing but a broken sword in its wake. Ichigo's heart jumped. "What... what is-"

"Kyouka Suigetsu. Everyone falls for it, don't beat yourself up," said Renji.

"Then this means... she's..." he couldn't finish the sentence, for fear of getting his hopes up.

"That's right," said Uryu, "Inoue-san is definitely not dead."

"By the way, where's Aizen?" asked Chad, looking around the room.

Ichigo pointed to a small pile of dust ten feet in front of him. "That's all that's left, anyway."

Renji nearly dropped Rukia as his eyes widened. "No... it's impossible, even for you!" Renji's breathing began to become excited. "You can't expect me to believe that you defeated Aizen Sousuke!"

"Well, Renji, I think that's what happened, either that or he mastered the art of turning into dust," Ichigo replied, a cocky grin on his face. He turned towards the pile of dust and yelled, "Hey, we know your secret! You're not fooling anyone!"

"Glad as I am that you're back to being the jolly idiot we know, we have to get back on task," said Uryu, "Let's find Inoue-san."

Ichigo realized that Uryu was right in both senses (well, except for the idiot part, but he'd get him for that later). He was happier. Aizen was dead, Inoue was alive, and he'd mastered his hollow mask. "Yeah," he replied, feeling out her reiatsu, "She's over there." Ichigo pointed in a direction and began to shunpo towards it, the rest of the group following as best they could.

Meanwhile, Orihime sat in her room, lonely and worried. What had happened to Kurosaki-kun? One of the arrancar had put a barrier around her so that she couldn't feel others' reiatsu. She hated not knowing what was going on. She hated being stuck in this room, not allowed to leave. She hated having to serve the cruel arrancar. She might take her own life, if it weren't for the fact that the arrancar would just kill her friends anyway.

Suddenly, the door burst open. She was hesitant to turn around. It was probably Grimmjaw, coming for another favor. That's when she heard the voice.

"Inoue..."

She turned instantly. There in the door way was the love of her life, Kurosaki Ichigo, having come to rescue her. "Kurosaki-kun!" she cried, tears of joy at seeing him welling up in her eyes. Before she could do anything, he had embraced her in a very tight hug.

"Inoue, I was so worried... they said you might be dead. I couldn't live with that."

"Kurosaki-kun," she said, hugging him back, "You shouldn't have come... Aizen will kill you for this..."

Ichigo grinned. "No he won't. I killed him first. He's dead, they all are."

Orihime couldn't believe what she'd heard. "What... did you say?"

"I told you," Ichigo answered, "I will always protect you. And I did. Aizen and the espada are all dead."

More tears filled her eyes as she tightened her embrace on Ichigo. "Oh, Kurosaki-kun... thank you."

"No need to thank me, " he said, "No need."

------------------

Alright, that's the super-lengthy chapter one done! Please, please review if you've read it. Next chapter: Coming home.


	2. Coming home

Author's note: Thanks to all my wonderful reviewers for the feedback! I really appreciate it!

Disclaimer: See the last chapter

Chapter Two: Coming Home

_"I told you," Ichigo answered, "I will always protect you. And I did. Aizen and the espada are all dead."_

_More tears filled her eyes as she tightened her embrace on Ichigo. "Oh, Kurosaki-kun... thank you."_

_"No need to thank me, " he said, "No need."_

"Uh... I hate to break up this reunion, I really do," said Renji, stepping towards the two, "But... could you please help her?" Carefully, he laid the small, shivering body of Rukia in front of Orihime.

"Oh! Sure thing, Abarai-kun," she replied. Before breaking the embrace completely, she gave Ichigo a brief look. Ichigo nodded, and she knelt down over her wounded friend. "_Souten Kisshun: I reject,"_ she chanted, as Shun'o and Ayame began their work on her wounded friend.

"I... I tried to heal her as best I could, but... I'm not that good at kido, so I don't know if it did much," Renji muttered, his gaze moving towards his feet.

Ichigo put a reassuring hand on his shoulder and said, "Don't worry. Inoue never fails when she does this." With that, he smiled at the girl, who developed a small blush from his remark.

Slowly, Rukia began to open her eyes. She felt the pain ebbing away from her wounds and looked up to see the face of the friend they'd set out to save smiling down at her. "Hey... Inoue-san... good to see you," she said quietly.

Orihime nodded. "Thank you, Kuchiki-san."

"Don't mention it, okay?"

After that, Orihime proceeded to heal Chad, Uryu, and Renji in turn The process of healing everyone took a great deal out of her, and she collapsed into Ichigo's arms. "It's alright," he said, picking her up, "You don't need to strain yourself anymore."

He began carrying her towards the door, when Rukia said, "Wait. There's one last thing we need to take care of."

Renji's eyes widened in realization. "Right. The Hougyoku."

"Do you know where it is, Inoue-san?" asked Rukia.

Orihime removed the small orb from her pocket. Softly, she said, "I... can destroy it. I'm... the only one who can."

"Inoue, it's okay," Ichigo urged, "You've used a lot of your energy, it can wait until later."

"No," she refused, placing the sphere in the center of her palm. "It's okay. I don't want to leave this hell with a piece of it." "_Souten kisshun works by rejecting fate's damage to the object in the shield," _she thought, "_so I just have to believe that the Hougyoku is itself damage to the area around it. I can do it. I need to do it!" "Souten kisshun,"_ she cried, mustering up the last of her energy, "_I reject!"_ Not a split second after she'd said this, the orb disappeared without a trace.

"_As though it had never been there," _Thought Uryu, intrigued.

"That... that was," began Ichigo, "That was amazing, Inoue!"

"Thank you, Kurosaki-kun," she replied, clutching his shinigami robes as she drifted off to sleep, allowing him to carry her away.

------------------------

"Should we just let them go like that?"

"Not like we can do much. Aizen-sama's been defeated and the Hougyoku is destroyed."

"True enough. I guess this is goodbye then... Gin."

"See ya around, Tousen."

----------------------

They arrived a short time later through the _Garganta_ Urahara had set up in his shop's basement. The merchant, Ururu, Jinta, and Tessai were all waiting for their return.

"Well, well, if it isn't the conquering heroes, back so soon!" exclaimed Urahara gleefully.

"Medical team, ready to operate," said Ururu softly, but Ichigo shook his head.

"It's okay, guys. Inoue healed us all with her powers... all we'd like to do is just get home," Ichigo said, the sleeping Orhime still in his arms. Urahara nodded in acknowledgment and allowed them to leave his shop. "Oh, and Urahara-san," Ichigo began, "Thank you." Smiling, Kisuke nodded once more.

After they'd each said their goodbyes, Ichigo turned to Rukia and said, "I'm going to take her home. You should get back to our place and tell my family we're okay." With that, Ichigo set off for Orihime's house.

As Ichigo walked, he couldn't help but look down at his sleeping friend's face. "_She looks so peaceful, you would never guess she'd been trapped with a bunch of bloodthirsty maniacs less than a day ago," _he thought. His heart swelled with an unfamiliar feeling as he gazed at her. It felt good; light, joyful, bouncy, even. Ichigo pondered the feeling briefly before realizing he'd reached Orihime's apartment.

"Ah... this is it," he muttered, and jumped to her window as gently as he could, careful as not to disturb the woman in his arms. He swiftly, yet softly, removed both their pairs of shoes and set her down upon the bed, covering her with a blanket. He pulled up a chair and sat down next to her bed, when all of the exhaustion of the last few days finally hit him.

He sighed, gathering himself for a moment. "_Hey, wait a minute," _he thought, "_I won. I really _won!" His victory felt good, but he was brought out of this self-congratulation by a small moan by the occupant of the bed.

"Kuro...saki-kun?" Orihime asked, rubbing her eyes.

"Hey, Inoue," Ichigo replied with a grin. "You're home."

She propped herself up on her elbows and said, "Home... I'm home." That too was the time where every experience of the last few days hit her mind. Ichigo saw the tears before they formed and in one swift motion, embraced her once more.

"Shh... it's okay, you're safe," he said as tears gushed from her eyes. He stroked her hair, as he remembered his mother used to do when he would get upset.

"I... I was so scared!" she sobbed, "I thought I would never get to see you again, Kurosaki-kun!"

"I was afraid of that too, Inoue," he replied. Eventually, she calmed down, and Ichigo laid her to rest on her bed once more. As he rose up to leave, he felt a hand tug at his shinigami uniform.

Turning, he saw Orihime's large, pleading eyes, all but saying the request she did say. "... Stay with me?"

Ichigo smiled. "Of course," he said, and sat back down next to her, holding her hand until she fell asleep.

---------------------------

Ichigo woke up the next day, never more grateful that the day of the week was saturday. He was still exhausted from the battle with Aizen and was content to just lay in bed all day long. However, life in his household didn't permit such pleasures.

"Ichigooooooo!" cried his father, narrowly missing crushing his son's head into the bed frame.

"I swear to _God,_ dad, if you don't leave me alone today, I'll-"

"Relax, son! I'm just here to welcome you home from your trip! But I'm not alone..."

"Not alone?" repeated Ichigo. "Oh no..."

"Nii-saaaaan!" cried his sisters, leaping on his chest and giving him hugs.

"Ichi-nii, we really worried about you!" said Yuzu. "Luckily, Rukia-chan was kind enough to let us know you're okay!"

"Mphrm," said Ichigo, muffled.

"What was that?" asked Karin.

"I said, I'm still really tired from my trip and would really just love it if you guys let me sleep! Now, I promise you I'll hang out later, but for now, I'd like you all to _get the hell out!"_ he roared, and his three family members when shooting out of the room. As soon as the door slammed shut, however, it opened again, revealing an amused Rukia.

"That wasn't very nice," she said, stepping into the room.

"Just exactly what I need," Ichigo groaned.

"Now I know that your tiredness can't be the only reason you flipped out at them. What's wrong?"

"I don't want to talk about it," Ichigo replied stubbornly.

"Oh, come now. Tell Rukia what's wrong," she persisted, her grin growing.

Ichigo didn't know what made him do it, but he relented. "Alright, you want to know so badly? Here goes. I think..." he gulped, fearing the words that were about to come out of his mouth. "I think I love Inoue."

A stunned silence filled the air before Rukia said, "Ichigo, that's great!"

"... what? What are you talking about? That's not good, that's terrible!"

"Don't be stupid! You and Inoue will be very happy together!"

"Are you kidding?" Ichigo asked, "She could never love me."

Rukia stared at Ichigo, contemplating the possibility that he really was, in fact, that dumb. "You're... you're not serious, are you? Have you even _met _her? She's mad about you, you idiot!"

Ichigo was stunned by these words. "Wh... what? That's not true, it can't be!"

"Ichigo, just listen. She's obviously- oh, damn it." She was cut off by the sudden blaring of the shinigami license.

"Huh... can you take this one, Rukia?" asked Ichigo. "I'm... still a little sore from the battle with, you know, the greatest menace to soul society and in fact all souls ever."

"Yeah, yeah," she replied, waving Ichigo off. "I get it. I'll be back soon." Touching the license to her body, her soul flew out and went to attack whatever hollow was causing trouble.

Ichigo exhaled peacefully. This would buy him a few more moments of relaxation... just to rest his eyes. A yawn escaped his lips before he slipped away.

---------------------

Ichigo awoke on the side of a building in his shinigami uniform. Wait. The side of a building? That could mean only one thing.

"How's it going... your majesty?"

Ichigo turned to see his hollow grinning at him. "What's this... why am I here?"

"Don't worry, Ichigo," said Zangetsu, emerging behind Ichigo. "It's alright."

"Says you," remarked the Hollow. "I swear, the last few days the weather here has been more chaotic than a tornado."

"So what?"

"The weather here changes with your emotions, your majesty the dumbass!" The hollow looked toward Zangetsu. "I swear, I'm just so tempted to stab him!"

"No need for that," said Zangetsu. He pointed directly to the left of Ichigo. "She's very beautiful, isn't she?"

Ichigo looked toward where Zangetsu had pointed. At his left there was a giant billboard displaying Orihime's smiling face. "Woah," Ichigo said initially, then gathered his thoughts. "So maybe I have her on my mind once in a while. I'm infatuated with her, I know. What's your point?"

"Oh, once in a while doesn't begin to cover it," the Hollow said, exasperated. "Take a look around!"

Ichigo did, only to find that his entire interior world was covered in pictures of the woman he loved. No two pictures were the same. Each displayed Orihime with a different expression.

"Pretty crazy, isn't it?" the Hollow asked, satisfied with Ichigo's expression of amazement at his own obsession.

"Ichigo," said Zangetsu, "What we want to do is help you-"

"He wants to help you!" yelled the Hollow, "I just want these damned pictures out of my way!"

"Anyway," continued Zangetsu, "This isn't healthy for you. You need to find a resolution to this, and unfortunately, I can't help you and neither can your... 'friend' over there."

Ichigo nodded in understanding. Zangetsu wouldn't try to hurt him. "Alright... I guess I'll t-" But he never got to finish, as his world disappeared in a white flash.

-------------

"Ichigo?"

He was back in his room, with Rukia standing over him. Briefly, he appreciated the irony that someone as tall as Rukia was standing over him. "Yeah...?" he muttered.

"You were really out, huh? I guess you weren't kidding about being exhausted," she said. "I'll just let you rest, then... we can talk about Inoue later."

Ichigo thanked whatever lucky stars happened to be functioning in his favor and returned to sleep, thankfully not appearing in his interior world again.

----------------------------

Monday, at school, Ichigo was much happier than usual. He was able to watch Orihime from his seat in the back, smiling at the radiance she contained. He even resisted smashing Keigo's face in when the overexcited boy leapt at him, crying, "I-chi-gooooooooooooo!"

Orihime was happy too. She'd never realized what a wonderful place school (not just Ichigo and lunchtime) was until she'd been kidnapped by Ulquiorra. Tatsuki had given her a gigantic hug upon her return to the classroom. Somehow, she'd been able to ward off Chizuru's attempts at molesting Orihime while still embracing the girl. Afterwards, Tatsuki had gone over to Ichigo and uttered a small, "Thank you," before returning to talk with her best friend.

In class, the Shinigami license blinked and Ichigo had to leave, giving some random excuse to Ochi-sensei before doing so. He'd given one last look to Chad and Orihime, and then he'd blasted his soul out of his body.

Orihime sighed. She and Chad both knew that they could no longer go help Ichigo fight Hollows or Arrancar or whatever ungodly beast decided to rear its ugly head in the living world. She recalled the conversation she, Chad, and Ichigo had had on Sunday. Though really, it was more of a lecture than a conversation.

_"What'd you ask us to meet you here for, Kurosaki-kun?"_

_Ichigo decided to get straight to the point. "You two... can't fight hollows with me anymore."_

_"What?" Chad asked. "If you're worried about our safety, Inoue-san and I are both capable of destro-"_

_"That's not it," Ichigo interrupted. "I don't know if you've ever heard this from anyone, but there's a reason that Ishida is the last Quincy. It's because..." he paused, "They were all wiped out by Shinigami two hundred years ago."_

_"Oh my God," said Orihime, covering her mouth in shock. "Why would they do such a thing?"_

_"Well... it's because of the difference in the way a quincy fights and the way a Shinigami fights." He pulled Zangetsu from his back. "A Zanpakutou cuts a hollow and destroys its mask, allowing the soul of the person to go to Soul Society. But when a Quincy arrow, Chad's arms, or Tsubaki destroy a Hollow, the soul remains here. This creates an imbalance which would... destroy the entire universe. Now, the reason the Shinigami killed the Quincies is because they'd pleaded with the Quncies to stop earlier, but because of the Quncies' stubbornness... they were forced to do away with them. But that's not the point." He sheathed Zangetsu, the cloth wrapping around its massive blade. "I don't want that to happen to either of you, okay?"_

Both Orihime and Chad had understood and agreed to stay away from Hollows. Still, neither of them liked it, and though Chad was as frustrated as Orihime, she really longed to be with Ichigo as much as possible, and Hollow hunting was one way in which she could be with him quite often.

----------------

"Ah... Inoue-san! Good to see you, what can I do for you?" Urahara asked gleefully, bowing to her.

"I... I want you to turn me into a Shinigami," she said confidently.

----------------------------

That's chapter two done! Sorry if it took longer than you expected. Please, review, review, and review! Your reviews keep me aliiiiive!

Next time: A trial of love


	3. A trial of Love

Author's note: Wow, that was some good feedback, even though I thought that chapter wasn't... as good as I could've done. Oh well, you guys liked it, so who am I to complain?

Disclaimer: See last chapter.

Chapter three: A trial of love

_"Ah... Inoue-san! Good to see you, what can I do for you?" Urahara asked gleefully, bowing to her._

_"I... I want you to turn me into a Shinigami," she said confidently._

Urahara blinked a few times, stunned at her request. He held his hand to cup his ear, hoping, praying that he'd heard incorrectly. "Pardon?" he asked slowly.

"Please, I very much want you to turn me into a Shinigami," Orihime reasserted. "I know that before we went to the Soul Society, you were able to grant Kurosaki-kun his own Shinigami powers. I wish for them too."

"F-first of all," Urahara began, "I'm not even sure you have latent shinigami powers..." Oh, who was he kidding? He knew from the moment he laid eyes on her that she had tremendous shinigami powers deep within her, and for the first time, he found himself unable to lie correctly. "Second of all, it is far too dangerous to do such a thing. It nearly killed Kurosaki-san, and I only did it then because it was a necessity. I can't have such a thing on my conscience, Inoue-san."

"Please!" she pleaded, kneeling down, "I... I need to have these powers!"

"If I may ask, why do you want them so badly, Inoue-san?" asked Urahara from behind his hat.

"Because..." she began softly, then picked up her confidence, "Because being kidnapped by the Arrancar has made me realize that every moment here on Earth is precious. I... love Kurosaki-kun with all my heart, and I was frightened nearly to the point of tears that I would never see him again. Now, recently, he's told me that I can't go fight hollows with him anymore. Only Kuchiki-san can."

She rose from the ground. "But I want to be there with him, in all parts of his life, not just the civilian one, Urahara-san." Tears began to form in her eyes. "Can't you understand, Urahara-san, what it is to love someone, to want them to stay with you, but knowing they can't stay for too long before they leave again?"

The truth was that Urahara did understand that pain, all too well. He turned to open the gate to the basement. "Inoue-san, I will do this on one condition. You have to promise me that you will put all parts of your soul into completing this task. Can you do that?"

"Yes... I will!" she replied.

"Then come," he said, stepping down the ladder to the training room. "Let us begin."

--------------------

"Hey, Rukia?"

"Yes, Ichigo?"

"Why are you and Renji still here? Weren't you called back to Soul Society?"

"Oh, that." Rukia put down the manga she'd been reading. "Well, I'm here in order to deliver reports in case something major happens in this town, which is a great likelihood. Renji's here because he wants to complete his Bankai training against Sado-san."

"Ah," Ichigo replied simply. "_I wonder what Inoue's doing right now. She seemed kind of down when school let out... I was going to ask her about it, but that damned shinigami license started blinking and I had to go. She seemed even more distressed when that happened."_

"Are you thinking about Inoue-san right now?" Rukia asked, grinning at Ichigo.

"_Damn her," _he thought, but instead replied, "Yeah... I'm kinda worried about her. Something about my leaving to fight the hollow made her sad."

"Ugh," Rukia said in disgust. "How many times do I have to say it? She. Likes. You. You. Idiot."

"Bah," Ichigo returned, waving her off. "She's just worried I'm going to get hurt, and- Hey, why are you beating your head against my desk?"

-------------------

"There were originally three steps to giving Kurosaki-san his powers," Urahara said as they reached the basement. "Though for you, we may just need two. The first step was so that Kurosaki-san could regain the ample reiryoku he needed to fight. But seeing as you already have a good supply of energy, we're just going to skip to lesson two. Pardon me if this hurts a little." With that, he pushed Orihime's soul away from her body with the cane of Benihime.

"Oof!" she yelped, rolling backwards. With one swift cut from the crimson princess, Orihime's chain of fate was severed. "Wha- What happened? Don't I need this to... live?"

Urahara sighed. "Yes... the chain will begin encroaching upon itself and you will become a hollow," he said, though not with the same energetic bounce he had with Ichigo. The truth was that Ichigo had been a fun target to put through the wringer. Inoue-san was... not. She was just one of those people that was really hard to want to hurt. "But fear not," he continued, "if you can become a Shinigami within three days, as I believe you can, you will not become a hollow." With a wave of his cane, the ground beneath her disappeared, her arms became bound, and she began falling into the shattered shaft. "Please land safely."

Tessai was waiting at the bottom, sustaining the binding spell. "Climb to the top of the shattered shaft within three days, please," he said. Holding one hand up to reveal that he had taken her hairpins, he noted, "I'm afraid you can't use these."

"Alright... I'll do it!" she said with conviction. "_It's impossible to get to the top of this thing by climbing," _She thought._ "the true purpose must be that if I become a shinigami, I will be boosted to the top. I hope I'm right." _She began focusing her energy, trying not to think about the small chain that was eating itself and the pain it caused.

The hours went on unnoticed. Orihime had made no progress. "_Come on, think... Kurosaki-kun told you about his inner world, didn't he? About Zangetsu and his hollow... I just need to get there."_

-----------------------------

"Inoue Orhime?" called Ochi-sensei. "Not here again? Oh well..."

"_What's going on?" _Ichigo thought. _"Inoue's absent again? This is the second day in a row... I should check what's going on."_ He closed his eyes, searching for any trace of her reiatsu. She wasn't at home... aha! He'd pinpointed her being... several meters below Urahara Shoten? That couldn't be right... unless... "_Oh no."_ He got up and bolted out of the classroom. By this time, Ochi-sensei had given up asking why.

-----------------------------

"Aaagh!" she cried, feeling the effects of the encroachment. She estimated it had been two days, with no luck. Fortunately, she still had a great deal of her chain left.

"How's she doing?" asked Jinta at the top of the shaft.

"Not good," said Ururu softly.

"Another home-made Shinigami?" asked a voice above Urahara's head. "You could start a business!"

Urahara slowly looked up, afraid to get his hopes up, at the slyly grinning face of his oldest friend. "Yoruichi-san! How good to see you!"

"Yeah, it's good to be back. By the way, you got any milk or fish around here? I'm jonesing for a snack," she said, sitting down and leaning on Kisuke.

"Ah, yes. Jinta, be a good lad and fetch Yoruichi-san some milk and tuna, would you?" The boy nodded, running off at top speed to fetch the meal.

----------------------------

"Dammit!" Ichigo yelled, hauling ass down the street towards the shop. He'd left his human body at the school and was using the shunpo to get to his destination as quickly as possible. "What is she thinking? What is _he_ thinking? Goddammit!"

----------------------------

"Yoruichi-san?" Kisuke asked.

"Hmmph?" she replied through a mouthful of tuna and milk.

"Two things. First, slow down on the milk and tuna, because they give you stink breath. Woah there," he said, dodging the fist that came flying his way. "Second, is there a sign on my shop's door that says, 'Free training! Inquire within!'? I mean seriously, we have Kurosaki-san, Sado-san, Abarai-san, and now Inoue-san. I don't mind it, but it's rather... time-consuming."

"Well," Yoruichi said, swallowing her mouthful and purposefully breathing in Kisuke's face, "Ichigo was your fault, Orihime and Chad were mine... but I'll give you Renji."

"Yes... excuse me, I have to go vomit. Woah!" Another fist shot by him.

Down at the bottom of the shaft, Orihime struggled to keep consciousness. The pain was too much. Throughout it all, she kept thinking, "_It's for Kurosaki-kun... to be with him... to be happy with him." _But eventually, she lost the battle against exhaustion, murmuring, "Ku...ro...sa...ki...kun..." before slipping into a deep sleep.

---------------------------

"Awaken, Orihime," said a soft yet powerful voice.

"Huh?" she mumbled, opening her eyes. She appeared to be lying on a hill of soft grass on a sunny day. She could see a river nearby. "What's... going on...? Where am I?"

"Don't you know already?" said the voice.

She turned toward the direction of the voice and saw a woman standing behind her. She looked to be around the age of thirty, but still very beautiful, with long, jet-black hair and golden eyes. She wore a kimono that seemed to transcend reality, flowing in and out of the physical plane. "Who... are you?"

"Who am I?" repeated the woman. "Don't you know? My name is-" but she was cut off by what appeared to be static.

"Huh?"

"Oh... it seems that's not quite ready to be heard. Well, at least you should know that you are here for your own shinigami powers."

Orihime's eyes widened. She'd done it! She'd made it into her interior world! Looking around more closely, she saw that the place was populated slightly by red dragonflies, and that every tree and bush only grew strawberries on them. She turned back to the woman. "But how do I get them? I mean... where are they?"

"That's for you to find out. Somewhere, they are here. Think about it, and you'll realize you already know." With that, the woman disappeared into the air.

"I already know..." Orihime repeated, closing her eyes. "What does that mean?" But then, something came to her. She thought about the strawberries... about the dragonflies... about the sun shining brightly... and she realized, it was right in her hands. Opening her eyes, she saw a zanpakuto inside of its sheath, and the woman standing again in front of her.

"Well done, my dear. I hope next time we meet, we'll have a proper introduction," said the woman. "Now draw me. You'll find it won't be that difficult."

Orihime did as she was instructed, and found the zanpakuto to be much lighter than she'd expected. It was as though _it_ was holding _her,_ it was so light. Unsheathing it, her world faded from her in a flash of white.

--------------------------

An explosion rose up from the bottom of the shaft. "She did it!" cheered Yoruichi excitedly.

"I knew she would," remarked Urahara.

"Yay..." said Ururu softly.

Orihime landed safely outside the shaft wearing the traditional shihakushou of the Shinigami. Her hairpins had been restored to their original places. A zanpakuto was unsheathed and in her hands.

"A full day before Kurosaki-san. Well done," said Urahara, removing his hat and replacing it with another one. This hat seemed to be sewn together at one side due to what appeared to be a massive cut. "Now, onto the final step."

"I'll take this, thank you," said Yoruichi, removing the hat. "I'll handle this, Kisuke. She was my student originally, after all."

"Fair enough," he conceded.

"Orihime. Your final step," she said, donning the decrepit headgear, "Is to knock this hat off of my head.

-----------------------

Ichigo was having a very, very bad day. On his way to find Inoue, the shinigami license had blared a record twelve times in one day, and this final one was a Adjuchas-class menos grande, which had punched him a good kilometer away from the shop. "Ban-kai!" he roared, donning his hollow mask at the same time and making short work of the menos. Quickly, he returned to his journey.

----------------------

"Welcome back, Orihime," said the black-haired woman. Orihime, last time she'd remembered, was fighting Yoruichi, trying to knock her hat off, when her sword had been reduced to nothingness. She was afraid, and hated herself for it. She realized she needed to do this... for Kurosaki-kun.

"Please, help me," pleaded Orihime. "Let's work together. Please... I need you."

"I am at your service."

"Then tell me your name!"

"Don't you already know it? Summon me, Orihime! Unleash my strength!"

Orihime placed her hand on the hilt of the zanpakuto and cried, "_Mamoro (protect)! Himeno Hogosha (The Princess' Guardian)!"_

Another flash of light. Yoruichi shielded her eyes from its brightness. When it subsided, there Orihime stood, clutching two zanpakuto. "_Two? Like Ukitake and Kyoraku?"_ Yoruichi thought. "_How rare... this could be more intriguing than I'd imagined."_

Each zanpakuto looked like a rapier, with the exception of the hilts. Each hilt looked exactly like the flowers of her hairpins, which Yoruichi noticed, were currently missing. "Yoruichi-san," she said, raising both swords, "Please... be careful." With a mighty swing, a giant ball of slicing energy raced towards Yoruichi with what appeared to be Tsubaki in the center, though much larger. Yoruichi had no time to react. Luckily, Urahara did.

"Thank God for Benihime's shield," he said quietly and Yoruichi's hat's remains fluttered to the ground. "That would have been ugly."

Suddenly, Zangetsu pierced the ground from above. "What the hell is going on?" Ichigo cried, following his sword. "Why was she in the shattered shaft?" Ichigo roared at Urahara.

Urahara pointed behind Ichigo. "Look for yourself."

Ichigo turned to see the new Shinigami form Orihime had taken. "Oh... thank _God,"_ he groaned, taking her into a tight hug. "I thought... I thought you'd be... a hollow by now."

"Don't get so crazy," said Yoruichi. "She finished it in two days, meaning yes," she answered before he could ask, "She has no inner hollow."

Breathing a sigh of relief, Ichigo relinquished the blushing Orihime. He looked down into her eyes. "Why, Inoue? Why did you do this?"

It was time to face the music. "I... I did it because... you told me I couldn't fight hollows with you anymore, but... I really liked that, and, and, I wanted to be with you, so... I did this," she babbled nervously, pushing her fingers together and looking at her feet.

Ichigo was stunned. "You did this so that... you could be with me?" She nodded. "All this? The whole ordeal, just for me?"

"I'm really sorry..."

Ichigo chuckled to himself. He could hear Rukia's voice singing choruses of "I told you so." Slowly, he cupped Orihime's cheeks in his hands and lifted them so that she was looking at him. Closing his eyes, he leaned down in one fluid moment and pressed his lips against hers. After a moment, he pulled away.

"Kuro...Kurosaki-kun?" she breathed, stunned at what had just happened.

"My name is Ichigo," he corrected her softly. "And I love you, Orihime."

"I-Ichigo-kun... I love you too!" Tears of joy were spilling from her eyes, and she pulled his face down and kissed him. He didn't hesitate to kiss back.

------------------

And that's the end of that chapter! I actually liked the whole dealy with Orihime's sword... writing it, that is. Anyway, please review! Your reviews are what spur me further!

Next Chapter: No title yet.


	4. Preparations

Author's note: Whee! More reviews per chapter than I've ever gotten at once! I'm a happy lad, I must say.

Disclaimer: See last chapter

Chapter four:

_"Kuro...Kurosaki-kun?" she breathed, stunned at what had just happened._

_"My name is Ichigo," he corrected her softly. "And I love you, Orihime."_

_"I-Ichigo-kun... I love you too!" Tears of joy were spilling from her eyes, and she pulled his face down and kissed him. He didn't hesitate to kiss back._

_"I am truly an idiot," _Ichigo thought as he kissed Orihime, oblivious to their surroundings. "_How could I have not noticed her...? Her beautiful eyes; blue-grey, her incredible smile that could brighten the darkest days... I must have been really, really blind. She wasn't just some ditz from school all the guys except me wanted. She's so much more beneath that... and now, she's mine." _He smiled internally at the irony.

"Kurosa- Ichigo-kun?" Orihime said after they parted briefly.

"Yeah...?" he replied, not really paying attention and instead gearing up to take another shot at her lips.

"Maybe we should go somewhere else," she said, gesturing towards the workers of the Shoten and Yoruichi.

"Huh?" Ichigo turned towards where she was pointing and blushed heavily, making his entire head look, appropriately enough, like a strawberry. "Oh, y-yeah! Let's... let's get going, Orihime!" Taking her hand, he flash-stepped them towards the exit after picking up Orihime's soulless body. After they'd exited the shop, Ichigo kept moving quickly.

"Ichigo-kun? Where are we going?" she asked as he carried her.

"To take a test," he said, stopping at the feet of a Huge Hollow. "Can you kill this thing, please?"

She knew what was going on. He wanted to see the extent of her powers. At this point, her zanpakutou had been resealed, so she summoned it once more. "_Mamoro (protect) ! Himeno Hogosha (The Princess' Guardian)!"_ Again, the twin blades, giant versions of her hairpins, manifested themselves in her hands.

"Whenever you're ready," Ichigo said, sitting on a rock a short distance away.

"Alright... here goes!" she cried, leaping in the air. She realized that her shinigami body could move much more easily than her regular body... she could even land on the air, as the others did. Instantly, she noticed that Ichigo's eyes changed. A second ago, they'd been soft and loving, watching the woman he adored. Now they were scrutinizing her every move, checking for every little detail.

The Huge Hollow roared, sending a tremendous claw at Orihime. With a wave of one of her swords, her _Santen Kesshun_ shield blocked the blow with great ease. The hollow waved its other claw at her. Another wave, and another shield had blocked this blow too.

"_Two shields?"_ thought Ichigo. "_The Shun Shun Rikka don't seem to be at the ends of each, and they're noticeably stronger... it must be an effect of the zanpakutou itself."_

As she leapt aside, the Hollow dug its talons into the ground and missed biting her, making three massive craters in the ground. Orihime knew she didn't need to do this, but thought it would be a good test of her powers. Making a stroke of her sword, three _Souten Kisshun_ shields appeared, healing the ground in a matter of moments.

"_The zanpakutou must amplify her hairpins' strength," _analyzed Ichigo. _That means... this next move should be interesting."_

Indeed it was, as when the Hollow came barreling down at Orihime, she raised both swords and swung them swiftly down. A much larger _Koten Zanshun_ than tsubaki usually created blew right through the mask, finishing it off. Resealing her sword, she landed next to Ichigo, who clapped.

"Well done, Orihime. That was great."

She smiled excitedly. "You really think so? Oh, Ichigo-kun, that makes me so happy, I could just go home and make some bean paste cake and- mph!"

Ichigo had silenced her with a kiss. "Let's go back to class. I left my body there and people will start wondering about it."

She nodded and followed him as they went home peacefully.

------------------

Urahara and Yoruichi had been sitting in the basement of the shop, enjoying lunch, when Yoruichi stood up and said, "Okay, that's it for me. See you later, Kisuke!"

"You're leaving?" Urahara asked, barely a tinge of sorrow showing through his voice. "When will you be back?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. Whenever."

Urahara was about to let her walk away without protest, but he'd recalled something Inoue-san had said. _"Can't you understand, Urahara-san, what it is to love someone, to want them to stay with you, but knowing they can't stay for too long before they leave again?"_

She was right. Damn it all, she was so right. Here he was, brilliant founder of the R&D department in the Seireitei, inventor of the hougyoku and the untraceable gigai, a man over a century old, and he was being out-wisdomed by a sixteen-year old. He chuckled as he remembered the old adage about the mouths of babes briefly before approaching his best friend.

Before the flash master could do anything, he kissed her, full on. She wasn't surprised at all. They'd gone far beyond kissing in the past... she blushed remembering those wild nights when she'd arrive, straight out of her cat form in his bedroom. He often gave her goodbye kisses before she went out into the world again.

She was, however, surprised when he took off his hat and said, "Stay. Please."

Without the covering of the hat, she could see the sheer pain in his eyes, and as she gazed into them, she felt it overpowering her, the loneliness crushing her like a boulder. Slowly, she grasped his hand and said, "If you want me to stay... I will." She crushed her lips against his in a kiss once more.

It was as simple as that.

---------------------------

A few days later, Ichigo was yet again lying down in his room. Rukia had long since finished her chorus of "I told you so," which had lasted three hours and only ended when Ichigo threw a book at her, narrowly missing her head.

After that, he surmised that life was indeed really, really good. He had the lovely Orihime as his girlfriend. His family wasn't dead and neither were his friends. And there were no major catastrophes going on in the spiritual world that needed his sword.

Or so he thought.

His ceiling tile creaked and out of it exploded the Hitsugaya expedition, save the captain himself, who once again had seated himself in the window sill. "_Uncanny." _"Oh, now what the hell is this?" Ichigo asked. "Aizen's _dead_, or did no one tell you that I killed him?"

"We've got different business, though it is related to Aizen's death," replied Hitsugaya, cool as ever.

"What do you mean?"

"There's a war about to explode into this town."

"What?" Ichigo was stunned. "B-but, we won! Aizen's forces and the Hougyoku are gone!"

"Apparently, they've found a way to create complete arrancar without the Hougyoku... if we don't do something fast, we're going to have to use Karakura Town as a battlefield."

Ichigo's eyes widened in horror. Images flashed in his imagination; Karin and Yuzu, dead after trying to escape. His father, dead in a pose signifying he'd been trying to protect them. Keigo, Mizuiro, and the rest of his school, gone. "Wh-what... are we supposed to do?" he asked quietly.

"We're going to venture into Hueco Mundo and prevent the attacks."

"Oh, great, I have to go back to that hellhole. Wonderful."

"There's a difference!" said Renji. "This time... we'll have the support of the Seireitei. We're not doing this alone, Ichigo."

Ichigo nodded. "I... I guess I understand. When will we get there?"

"We will have three months' worth of preparation, then we will strike Hueco Mundo at that time," said Hitsugaya. "Prepare yourself."

"Yeah," said Ichigo, "Now... If you'll excuse me, there's something else I have to do." Getting up, he wandered out of his room, out of his house. and began making his way towards his beloved's house. "_Why is it always like this?"_ he thought gloomily as he walked down the sidewalk. "_Why do I always have to protect my loved ones from some horrible danger? I mean, come on... Yuzu, Karin, Rukia, Chad, Orihime, and now the whole damned town? What if our preemptive strike doesn't work? This is so frustrating..." _

More and more, dark thoughts filled his head until he arrived at Orihime's place. He knocked on her door and she let him in, greeting him with an electrifying kiss. "_That's right,"_ he thought remembering , "_I'm going to fight for her. It's not 'I'm afraid this will happen,' it's 'I won't let this happen!" "_Orihime," he said, stepping inside her flat, "There's something I need to tell you..."

"What is it, Ichigo-kun?" she asked, radiant smile still displayed on her features.

"_For that smile, I will fight and kill anyone. I swear it."_ "There's something happening in three months that you should know about," he began.

O O O

"A war...?" she asked softly after Ichigo told her the details. "Oh no... what's going to happen...?"

"We're going to attack Las Noches directly before they unleash any attack on the town. Orihime," he said, "What're you gonna do?"

"What else, but fight?" she replied.

"I was afraid you'd say that."

"Ichigo-kun... please tell me why I can't. I have a zanpakutou now!" she protested, "I can do it!"

"There are three reasons," Ichigo said, getting up and pushing his soul out of his body with the license. Placing Zangetsu parallel to the ground, he roared, "Ban-Kai!" And as the smoke cleared, he was gone.

Immediately, he appeared behind Orihime and said, "This is reason number one." But as soon as she turned to see him, he was gone. When she turned once more, suddenly, there were thousands of images of Ichigo flying around her tiny flat. "You probably see... over five hundred after-images, right?" He hated doing this to her, showing her that she just wasn't strong enough like this. But it needed to be done.

He landed in front of her, held her close and said, "The second reason is that we need you on this side to help the healing effort. You're our best healer and we can't have those skills being wasted on the battlefront. But finally," his voice quieted down to a whisper in her ear. "The last reason is that if anything happened to you... I would never, ever forgive myself. So please, don't not fight for them. Do it for me."

Her previously tense shoulders relaxed. "Okay... if you say so, Kurosaki-kun."

"Oh, thank you, Orihime," he said, planitng a soft kiss.

"No need, Ichigo-kun," she said, smiling after they'd parted. "No need."

------------------

Ichigo left Orihime's apartment some time later after spending some "quality time" with her (he blushed at that memory). But now, it was time to complete one last task before he commenced preparation for the war.

"Oi! Hirako! Are you there?" he called into the warehouse. Slowly, several signs of reiatsu began to show themselves as the Vizard emerged from Hachi's barrier.

"Heeeey, Ichigo," greeted Shinji. "We heard you mastered your Hollow mask down in Hueco Mundo. Nice job!"

"Thanks, but that's not what I came to talk to you about," Ichigo said, his tone tense; his eyes narrowed. "I'm here because-"

"You want us to help in the upcoming arrancar war, right?"

Ichigo's eyes widened. "Man, you guys are really good at the whole information-gathering thing. But yeah, that's why I'm here. What do you say?"

Glancing to the side, Shinji replied, "Well, Ichigo... we discussed it decided-"

"Hell no, baldy!" cut in Hiyori. "There's no chance we'll help scumbag shinigami!"

"...What?" Ichigo said softly. He couldn't believe what he'd just heard. "But... they're going to attack the town. Surely you've got loved ones you need to protect, and-"

"We have measures to protect everyone we need to on our own," said Shinji. "And we're strong enough to fight off the arrancar easily."

"But innocent people will get hurt!"

"And then what?" asked Shinji, his tone growing suddenly fierce. At this sudden change, all the vizard seemed to shrink back from their unofficial leader, even Hiyori, who stood with timidness and what seemed like a bit of admiration.

"We stick our necks out for these people and then what happens? The Shinigami will be on our backs, trying to arrest us and probably kill us!" Shinji clenched his fist, trying to hold in his anger. "Why should we bother to risk our lives for them when they've done nothing but treat us like criminals?" His tone softened. "It'd be just like before, Ichigo. I'm sorry, but I can't. We can't."

The pain in Hirako's voice made Ichigo understand. The Vizard seemed like good people, if a little wacky, but that was just how he saw them. To those elitists in the Seireitei, they were probably the pictures on most wanted posters. They'd been hunted, and for what? Trying to take control of something that would devour them?

They weren't like Aizen, who would purposefully give himself a hollow so that he could destroy. Ichigo recalled when Shinji had saved his life from Grimmjaw's attack. And who was he as a fellow Vizard to force them into this war?

"I understand, Hirako," Ichigo said finally, nodding. "Sorry to trouble you."

Shinji's goofy smile returned. "Don't worry 'bout it. If you need any more help with that mask, don't hesitate, okay?"

With a wave, Ichigo was off. As soon as he cleared the warehouse, a voice said, "So, they refused you, eh, Kurosaki-san?"

Without a reply, Ichigo said, "I need you to train Renji and Chad really, really well... for all our sakes. Will you do that, Urahara-san?"

The merchant smiled his cool smile, folding his fan. "Who are you talking to, Kurosaki-san? You can count on me!"

"Good," said Ichigo. "Then it's time to prepare... for war."

-------------------------

I really like the Vizards. Their story seems very interesting, and their characters are so unique.

Anyway, please review! I really hate it when I can't know if people saw/liked my story, so it really helps if I get a review, even if it's anonymous!


	5. All but a calm

Author's Note: Only a few reviews for the last chapter... such a shame. Oh well. We persevere!

Disclaimer: See last chapter.

Chapter five: All but a calm.

"Raaaaah!"

"You're too slow!"

Chad and Renji were still battling it out in the basement of the Urahara Shoten. Though he talked tough, Renji was actually very pleased with his "student." Ever since achieving the _Brazo Izquierda del Diablo,_ Chad had improved greatly. It took a great deal of effort for Renji to move his pupil when he stood firm with the shield of his _Brazo Derecha del Gigante, _especially since it seemed to absorb most energy attacks.

"_By the time these three months are over, this kid is going to be a serious powerhouse... it's a shame he doesn't know I'm still going easy on him."_

_"I really wish Abarai-san wouldn't go easy on me," _thought Chad, gearing up for another shot with his arm. "_I'd rather face the full strength of his Bankai head on, even though I guess I'm having enough trouble as it is."_

Meanwhile, Urahara stood by the two combatants, enjoying the show with bags under his eyes. Last night, he hadn't got any sleep...

"_Kisuke," said Yoruichi, entering her best friend's office. "You've been up for three straight days back here writing on this blackboard which is so messy I can only hope that these scrawlings were once legible. Come on. Come to bed with me."_

_Normally, Urahara would never turn down an invitation from his sweet Yoruichi. But this was not a normal case. "I'm sorry, my love, but I'm on the verge of something great!" he exclaimed, writing a few more equations on the board. "When this is done, I will have achieved a new high in research and development._

_"New high, eh?" Yoruichi asked drly. "Yeah... you do seem rather high right now."_

_"Yes!" said Urahara, either too tired, too pensive, too excited, or all three to catch the joke his love had made. "I will be so high that I won't even know what's going on around me!"_

_Yoruichi chuckled. She loved it when he got into what she called a "science frenzy." Laying a small kiss on his cheek, she said, "Alright... when you finish, come to bed. I'll be waiting."_

Urahara smiled at this memory, rubbing his fingers over the small box in his pocket. The lack of sleep had totally been worth it. "_Wait..." _he thought, remembering that night's events, "_She was making fun of me, wasn't she? Oh well, best not to dwell." _He turned his head away from the two training to his right to see the two training to his left.

"Raaaaah!"

"You're too slow!"

"_What an odd coincidence," _thought the merchant as he observed the battle between Rukia and Orihime. He recalled when this arrangement had been set up.

"_You... you want to get stronger?" Urahara asked disbelievingly, one hand scribbling furiously on the chalk board as he looked towards the girl._

_"Yes, please," replied Orihime,_

_"But why? You're already a Shinigami. Certainly Kurosaki-san accepts that."_

_"I know, it's just..." she looked at the ground. "After being so helpless last time, I too want to be strong... this time, I'm doing it for myself."_

_Urahara smiled. "Well, it _is _less dangerous than the actual process of becoming a shinigami, so I suppose you'll be fine. Now, if you'll go into the next room, you can meet your training partner. I'd take you there myself, but, well..." he gestured with his free hand to his writing, white-knuckled hand, "I'm a little preoccupied."_

Inoue-san and Kuchiki-san were good training partners. Neither of their potentials had been fulfilled and both had a long way to go before that happened. Though Inoue-san was, as Aizen had pointed out, ridiculously powerful because of her incredible space-time manipulation, that only really applied to her _Souten Kisshun_, and her actual combat skills weren't the greatest. Much like Rukia, her swordsmanship paled in comparison to her other skills.

Rukia ended up being quite a good match. The short shinigami had also been seeking greater strength after being impaled in Las Noches. Orihime had just used her _Santen Kesshun _ to block one of Rukia's dances and had begun her counterattack with Tsubaki. Through her training, she'd managed to learn how to control the path of the tiny fairy, allowing enhanced movement instead of just firing forward. Luckily, Rukia was able to fend for herself just the same.

Urahara now turned to the man training himself directly in front of him. Kurosaki-san had wanted a nice, open space to train while at the same time being close to Orihime. With his eyes closed, the strawberry was training in his interior world.

000000000000000000000

"Once more," said Zangetsu. "You're getting faster, Ichigo. Try it again."

"Oh, come on!" whined his Inner Hollow on his back after the beating Ichigo had served him, "Do you realize what's happening here? He's using _my power_ against me!"

"Yes, and that's what you get for losing," said Zangetsu with a smirk. Now, on your feet and try it again."

00000000000000000000

Urahara yawned. He must've done so at least fifty times within the last half hour. It seemed that the three hours of sleep he'd gotten last night just weren't enough. Sure, he was tired, but his mind was so active, as always, and he was so gleeful with the discovery and invention that lay in his pocket that he'd ignored all signals from his body asking him to sleep.

Besides, there were two conditions that needed to be met before he would get a truly restful sleep. First, he had to have his soft, cushy bed with just the right blankets and pillows arranged just how he liked it. Second, he had to have a certain someone there with him for it to be actually restful and not just sleep.

"Hey, Kisuke," said Yoruichi, approaching from behind with a half-empty milk bottle, "How're they doing?"

_"Now, if only I could get my bed down here without having it get destroyed or dirtied... I'll have to make some calculations later," _he thought. "Well, they're sweating, but they're not dead, so I imagine that's a good sign."

He smiled as he watched Chad activated his latest armor upgrades, the _Piernas del Demonio (Legs of the Demon), _armor that covered his legs which looked like a mixture of his right and left arms, and the _Corazón del Rey (Heart of the King), _a breastplate that resembled neither the right or left arm, but was pure white and stood out completely from the rest of the armor. Now he was fighting on par with Renji's 20 limit of strength.

"_Patience," _thought Urahara, "_I just need to wait a little longer to use my incredible invention!"_ He was nearly shaking from glee. "Kurosaki-san!" he called, remembering finally what he'd planned to do next (his brain was a little misty from being awake seventy-two hours). "Come over here, if you please. I need to have a word with you."

Ichigo, snapping out of his inner world, proceeded over to the couple. "What's up, Urahara-san?"

"Well, it occurs to me that you haven't had your Bankai for very long, and though you can use it in combat very efficiently," a clever smile appeared, "it's still not nearly at its full potential."

Ichigo wasn't sure he'd heard correctly. "Wh... what did you say?"

"_Tensa Zangetsu _isn't at its full power yet. Most people need to train at least ten years to be able to use their bankai as efficiently as you have in battle, but... I think you might just need these three months."

"My Bankai can be more powerful?" Ichigo asked excitedly, like a little boy who'd just found a new toy. "Who will I train against? Will I be fighting Zangetsu again?"

"Your training partner will be someone who's had Bankai for over a century," Urahara said, removing his hat and handing it to Yoruichi.

"Over a century...?" Ichigo puzzled. "Who? Byakuya, or someone? Hey, what're you doing?"

Ichigo asked this because Urahara had taken the cane Benihime was hidden in and was about to plunge himself through the heart. "I think we might need to be reintroduced after this. You see, this body of mine is just a gigai I cooked up. One that would at once hinder my strength but still allow me to fight like a shinigami." With that, he pushed the cane through himself and out came his spirit. "My name is Urahara Kisuke," he said, taking his hat from Yoruichi as his gigai body slumped down, "Ex-captain of the twelfth company."

An intense reiatsu filled the room, causing Rukia, Orihime, Chad, and Renji each to stop what they were doing and look toward its origin. Ichigo noticed it might be even stronger than his own shikai form. He knew that Urahara had been a captain before he'd come to the material world, but... with this much strength? The twelfth company was supposed to be the core of the Research and Development Institute, not a powerhouse like the eleventh... so how did Urahara, the goofy merchant have this much power?

Yoruichi grinned at the others' reactions. Kisuke was pretty powerful, and only she knew why. "You seem surprised at this form," Urahara said after a few seconds, brushing the dust off of his old captain's cloak. "I guess that you must be wondering how I attained this strength, nearly rivaling that of your own, Kurosaki-san?" Ichigo nodded. "Well, that's a story for another day, I'm afraid. Let's get on to business."

"What?" Ichigo yelled in disbelief. "You reveal this strength to us and suddenly tell us it's a story for another day? What the hell?"

"It's long, tedious, and not very entertaining at the end," Urahara replied. "Now, come on. Activate your Bankai."

"Now hold on one moment!" Renji yelled, pointing an accusing finger at Urahara. "You said to me your Bankai wasn't good for training others! What bullshit was that?"

"Bullshit?" Urahara repeated, wincing as though the word had wounded him, "It wasn't. It just isn't good for training those in the way that Sado-san needed to be trained. For Kurosaki-san, it's perfect." Renji was speechless, so instead of speaking, he merely turned back to training Chad.

Resigned to his task, Ichigo held Zangetsu in front of him and called out, "_Ban-kai!"_ After a flash of light, Ichigo emerged with _Tensa Zangetsu._

Urahara held his sword and muttered, "_Okiro (awaken)... Benihime."_ The thin cane sword became the merchant's initial release instantly. Without a moment's hesitation, he dove at Ichigo.

Ichigo blocked automatically. Urahara repeated his strikes over and over, coming at Ichigo from every possible angle. "What exactly... are you doing? I'm fast enough in this state to block anything you can throw at me with that."

"Oh, I know, Kurosaki-san," Urahara replied, continuing his barrage. "I'm just calculating how far I need to go. You see, you'll probably end this day unconscious." Using the recoil from one of Ichigo's blocks, he backflipped away.

"Unconscious?" Ichigo repeated. He found this a bit hard to believe. After all, he had defeated Aizen, whom he was sure was relatively stronger than the man before him.

"If not dead," Kisuke answered, spinning Benihime in front of him. "Ban-kai," he said quietly. Stopping the spinning, an enormous red light surrounded the sword and the merchant and he leapt at Ichigo. Ichigo raised Zangetsu to block, but it was too late and he was knocked unconscious.

------------------------------------------

"_Ugh," _Ichigo thought, clutching his head as he awakened. "_Damn that Urahara for being right. What the hell did he hit me with?"_ As he got up, he realized he wasn't in the basement of the Urahara Shoten anymore. Though to be more precise... he was still in the basement... the basement was just destroyed. "_What the hell happened here?"_ Quckly, he ran out of the ruins and into the street, only to be horrified at the image before him.

Karakura was destroyed.

Every where he looked, devastation covered the landscape. Buildings were utterly ruined, only a few bricks remaining. Eyes widened at the sight, he quickly took off for his family's clinic. But there was a problem with that, one he realized as he arrived.

It was no longer there.

Like nearly all of the buildings around it, it had been reduced to rubble. A few bodies lay in front of it and Ichigo was scared beyond recognition to check them. But his mind already knew what his eyes had just confirmed. Yuzu, Karin, and his father were all dead in front of him. But what shocked him the most, what caused him to cry out in sheer horror and emotional anguish was the image that appeared to have been protecting his family from the onslaught.

Orihime, impaled on a zanpakutou.

"Please," he whispred softly as the tears began to run down his cheeks once more at the sight of his dead love. "Please... just be _Kyouka Suigetsu_ or... or something, anything! Please, God," he cried up into the heavens, "Don't do this to me! Don't do this to them!"

A voice behind him reached his ears. "Ichigo."

Turning, he saw the face of the merchant he'd been fighting what he thought was only a few minutes ago. Urahara was clutching a wounded arm and bleeding from his temple. "Urahara-san! What the hell happened here?"

Kisuke looked somber. "This is no trick. You've been out for about four months..."

Four months? That could only mean one thing. "The... the arrancar attacked?"

"The preemptive strike failed without your strength. We did the best to hold them off on this side, but... well, you see."

Ichigo grabbed Kisuke's collar. "You! You did this! If you hadn't knocked me unconscious in your stupid training, the town wouldn't be destroyed!"

Urahara remained calm. "You failed in my training, so you wouldn't have been able to help much anyway. Don't pin your weakness on me."

Releasing the collar, Ichigo realized he was right. He'd been too weak. Too helpless. Too useless...

--------------------------

"Kurosaki-san? Are you awake?"

Ichigo's eyes, thought by their owner to be already open, opened. Looking around, he saw the interior of the back room of the Urahara Shoten. He was on a futon covered by a light blanket and standing above him was none other than the owner of the shop, back in his body.

"Woah!" He sat up instantly, accidentally headbutting Urahara with great force. "Where am I? Why isn't this place destroyed?"

"I'm sorry, I just need to make sure I don't have a concussion," responded Urahara, testing himself. "Good, no major damage. Now, as to your question. I suppose this place isn't destroyed because no one came to destroy it."

"B-but, it was! People did! Arrancar! They killed... everyone!"

"Did they?" asked Urahara rhetorically. "Well, I suppose now you know why my Bankai couldn't have trained Sado-san."

"Huh?" Ichigo put the pieces together in his head. "You mean... all of that wasn't real?"

"That's right."

"You son of a bitch!" yelled Ichigo, punching Urahara smack in the nose.

Kisuke fell backwards clutching his nose. "Near concussion, near broken nose... should I just jump in front of a car to save you the trouble?"

"Enough of your joking! You told me I'd been out for four months!"

Urahara sighed. "That's not exactly correct. You made me say it."

"What?"

Pulling out Benihime, he said, "_Shunou Bure'eka Benihime (Mind Breaker Crimson Princess), _first phase.She creates a powerful interior world within you which summons up all of your fears. There are several ways it can kill you. One is that your mind becomes overloaded by fear and you have an intense nervous breakdown, so intense that your organs also shut down. Another is that your heart is overcome by all of the negative emotions - fear, hatred, pain, sadness, to name a few - and explodes. However, if you can produce and unconsciously control enough reiatsu to protect your brain from natural defenses... you'll live. You wouldn't have survived if you hadn't been in Bankai form."

"So it's like Aizen's shikai?"

"It's similar. Aizen alters objects in space to suit his needs. Benihime merely changes the flow of blood to your brain to make your fears manifest themselves. It's not controlled."

"But... won't it only work once? I'll know the next time that I'm in a fake world, won't I?"

Urahara smiled at his zanpakutou."The devastating beauty of Benihime is that she erases any prior conscious memory of the attack throughout the duration. It's up to your subconscious to become stronger. Normally, you'd have to be exposed to it over one hundred thousand times before you became more resistant, but I think you'll need significantly less."

Ichigo smiled. "Let's get back to work, then!"

----------------------------------------------

Well, that chapter's done. Only those who know Japanese fully will be able to tell why a certain part of Urahara's bankai's name is the way it is. Anyway, please keep reviewing! Your reviews make me stronger!


	6. Helm of rage

Author's note: I liked and disliked the last chapter. What was in Urahara's pocket? What is he planning? And how will Ichigo's powers change through his training? All this and more on the next "Life as they know it"!

Disclaimer: See last chapter

Chapter six: Helm of rage

"Orihime!" Ichigo gasped, coming out of his trance from Urahara's bankai. He groaned unpleasantly as that now familiar sensation of all his memories from the previous attacks on his psyche by Benihime returned to him while he collapsed weakly on the ground. After some training with Rukia, Orihime had taken to kissing Ichigo powerfully every time he returned from his false world, just to remind him of everything that was sweet in his life, and also because usually, the illusion involved Orihime's death or dismemberment.

"Well done, Kurosaki-san!" commended Kisuke, disengaging his final release. "_Amazing," _he thought. "_After just one month's training he's been able to have his 'blood' circulate so much energy that he comes out of _Shunou Bure'eka Benihime _(Mind Breaker Crimson Princess)'s attack conscious, however weak he was."_ Jinta, Ururu, do our guest a favor and bring him some food and something to drink, will you?

As Ichigo sat panting against a nearby rock, one arm around Orihime, his other arm clutched his stomach. He always emerged from the onslaught starving, as though he hadn't eaten for days... it initially worried him, as hunger while in his Shinigami state meant he was becoming a hollow. Fortunately, he learned it and the intense thirst he got were just byproducts of the attack.

"Orihime," he said weakly, "How's your training going?"

"It's going very well, Ichigo-kun!" she said, leaning further into his embrace. "Kuchiki-san has really helped me out."

"Good, good," he replied. He frequently asked her this. On the chance that an Arrancar slip by their defenses, he wanted her to be as well-protected as possible. His heart clenched as he gathered the courage to ask the question he'd been dying to ask since he'd rescue his love from Aizen. "How is it you have no hatred for me?"

"Wh-what?" she asked, bewildered. This was quite a change of tone.

"I told you I would protect you until the very end... but you left with Ulquiorra anyway when he said he'd kill us. And until the end... I was too weak to save you. So why don't you hate me?"

"It's that... he wouldn't kill just you," answered Orihime, "Though you were my biggest worry. He would kill Tatsuki-chan and Sado-kun and Ishida-kun and I thought that you couldn't be in all places at once to protect them, could you?"

Ichigo nodded. "At that, I guess not."

"Besides... how could I hate the man I love, the wonderful man I have loved for so long not a day has gone by that I haven't loved him?"

"I'm not that great," he replied.

"But... you are!" she insisted, eyes wide with worry. "You're the greatest man I know... and even if you think you're not you're definitely good enough for me! Isn't that fine for you?"

Ichigo smiled and kissed her lightly. "Good enough for you... that's all I could ask for."

"Sorry to break this up, but I've got your food," said Jinta, carrying a large tray, Ururu behind him, carrying a jug of water.

After they'd eaten, Ichigo stood up and said, "I've gotta go... gotta keep training."

"Are you sure, Ichigo-kun?"

He gave her a cheesy thumbs-up and an even cheesier smile to match. "Don't worry about me," he said. "I'll be fine. Knowing that his girl was satisfied with that, he wandered in the direction of the hat-wearing merchant.

It had been so long since he'd smiled, since he'd really, honestly smiled. The last time he could recall was before his mother had died. That day, it was like the happiness and light were stolen from his world. She always smiled, so that even on torrentially stormy days, his life seemed bright. When she left... it was always gloomy, even in the bright summer.

But when Orihime became his girlfriend, that light had returned. He realized the two were a lot alike and had they had a chance to meet, would've gotten along greatly. She was the light in his life now, and that would make any training bearable .

"Ready?" asked Urahara, out of his combat-ready gigai.

"Hit me," responded Ichigo, bracing himself for the attack. Suddenly, Kisuke leapt at him and his world became darkness.

---------------------------------

"_Ugh, what hit me?"_ Ichigo thought, getting up from the cold floor he was on. _"And where am I?"_ Looking around, his face was drained of color as he realized he was in the throne room of Las Noches.

"You seem surprised, Kurosaki Ichigo," said a voice ahead.

Ichigo turned toward the sound and nearly fainted. "A... Aizen? How can that be? You're dead!"

"You honestly thought that a weakling such as yourself could kill me?" Aizen laughed. "Truly comedic. But... let's take a look at the newest member of my Espada, shall we?" Gesturing with his arm, he poined toward the woman beside him.

Ichigo's widened eyes, now like saucers, dilated further. "O... Orihime?" It couldn't be. She couldn't be on his side. That'd be impossible. But it wasn't what frightened Ichigo the most. Part of a hollow mask lay on her head like a tiara and a giant hole rested on the center of her collar bone. "A..." the word was difficult coming out of his mouth. "A... Arrancar?"

"That's right!" said Aizen, wearing his devious grin. "Isn't she a beautiful Arrancar, too?"

As Aizen laughed once more, Ichigo began to break down. As the first bit of tears reached his eyelids, a voice inside him said "_No."_ It wasn't Zangetsu or his own thoughts, but a mixture of the two. _"You have to stop this," _he said, "_You can make this different."_

As the voice grew stronger, Ichigo noticed a change in Orihime. The tiara shrank away into nothingness. The hole filled itself in. Her skin, once white, flushed with color, and to Aizen's horror, she leapt to Ichigo's side. "I'm yours, Ichigo-kun," she said, "I always have been."

-----------------------------------

"No!" cried Ichigo, snapping out of his trance. He slumped to the ground as his memories returned, waiting for Orihime to come and comfort him.

As she did, Urahara pressed a stopwatch's timer. "_Five hours,"_ thought he, "_A great improvement from his last time, seven and a half hours, and a tremendous improvement from his starting point, a day and a half."_ "Jinta. Ururu. More food, please."

The two children went to do as they were ordered and Yoruichi appeared behind Kisuke. "When are you going to use the new invention?" she asked, placing a peck on his cheek.

"Oh, very soon," he answered excitedly, "Perhaps even today."

Ichigo had been panting slowly while Orihime stroked his back. "Orihime," he said softly, "Of all the times that I've done this, that time was the worst."

"Why? What happened?"

"Before..." he closed his eyes in remembrance, "Each time before, you had been killed somehow and that always shattered my heart like nothing I thought possible... but this time... this time..."

"This time, what?" she urged gently.

"This time, you betrayed me." He paused, causing a short silence between them. "You were an Arrancar," he elaborated, "And you had willingly joined Aizen's side." A single tear trickled down his cheek as he recalled the illusion. "I couldn't bear it."

"But it wasn't real, Ichigo-kun," she pointed out. "It was just a nightmare, a horrible nightmare that played upon your fears."

"I know," he answered, opening his eyes. "And yet... before, when you were killed, when I lost you, it was horrible enough. But to know that you did it willingly, to hurt me, that was... that was too much. There was more to it after that, though. Something good, this time."

"What was it?"

"It changed," he said. "I changed it, I think. You un-hollowized and joined my side again, like my mind was fighting the attack head on instead of just defending itself."

"Did I hear correctly?" asked Urahara, approaching the two, his voice full of intrigue. "You were able to change the false world by yourself?"

"Yeah."

"That's remarkable!" exclaimed the merchant, folding his fan to reveal a bright smile. "That means you are quickly becoming immune to the attack of Benihime, subjugating it to your will. There has only been one other person to do that... the man who was captain of Twelfth Company before I. If I were like that creepy Kurotsuchi, I would have you dissected to study how you can do all this. But I'm content just to observe you. Lucky you, eh?"

"Yeah... real, uh, lucky," Ichigo said dryly. "Let's... just get back to training."

"Oh, in a moment. There's something I have to do in a few minutes and I think you'd like to see it." Kisuke turned toward Renji and Chad's battle.The limited _Hihiou Zabimaru_ had just slammed into Chad's shield with its full force, causing a massive explosion. When the dust settled, Chad was wearing a helmet that was very similar to a hollow's mask, specifically a Vast Lord's. It matched his breastplate.

"_Cabeza del Rey (head of the king)," _he announced from beneath the mask. Renji stood in amazement at this newest development.

"Ah, that's what I was waiting for!" said Urahara, performing a Shun-po towards Chad. "Now's the time when I can show you my latest invention..." He pulled the box from his pocket, remembering when he'd first shown it to someone.

"_What's in the box?"_ _asked Yoruichi, having woken up Kisuke who had been alseep at his desk._

_"Take a look for your self..." he said, droopy lidded, and handed the box to her._

_Opening it, Yoruichi gasped. "Wh... what have you done...?" she asked quietly. _

_"Hm?"_

_"You... you colossal idiot! You've created another Hougyoku!" she yelled, punching Kisuke in the face._

_"You're only half right," he said, getting up and rubbing his cheek._

_"Huh?"_

_"Technically, it is a Hougyoku, but it only works once... and for one person. Can you guess whom?" he asked, gesturing towards the chalkboard._

_Yoruichi peered at the board, looking for any indication of a name. She saw only one, scribbled many times throughout the equations on the board. "... Sado-san?"_

_"Correct!"_

"... This!" he said, unveiling the tiny orb. Everyone gasped. "Calm down, calm down, everyone, it's a special Hougyoku. Sado-san, I'm sure by now you've noticed that your powers are neither Shinigami nor Quincy-related." Chad nodded. "Well, that's because you got the other power awakened by Kurosaki-san. Inoue-san recieved the main part of his power, the Shinigami. You, however received the other powers Kurosaki-san had deep within him, those that he himself were oblivious to at the time." His eyes narrowed. "His hollow powers."

Everyone looked at Chad, whose face remained stoic. "Now now, let's not get overexcited. Sado-san is not a hollow," Urahara continued. "But his powers are very similar. When I realized this and the existence of the Arrancar, I thought, 'If a Menos' powers grow tremendously when you remove its mask, and Sado-san's powers are certainly greater than those of at least the Gillian class, around the higher-tier Adjuchas, shouldn't his powers, like the hollows' grow tremendously as well, when you remove the mask?"

A state of mutual understanding overtook the room. "Exactly," Urahara said, reading their faces. "The only problem was... Until now, Sado-san didn't have a 'mask' to remove. That's why I've been waiting so anxiously for this day. Sado-san, please come here." Chad did as directed and walked over, fully armored, and stopped in front of the merchant. The orb glowed and crackled in Urahara's hands, and suddenly, Chad's helmet shattered, leaving behind an insignia that looked like his much valued coin on his breastplate. While the special Hougyoku dissolved into thin air, everyone watched as the remains of his helmet swirled around in the air and became...

A zanpakutou.

"Abarai-san," Urahara said, as though this event were the most normal thing in the world, "You will may have to release your limiter now. And Sado-san," he said, turning to Chad, "Congratulations. You are the only one of your kind. In the history of Shinigami, Quincy, and Hollow, you are the first to ever be something like what you are. It's quite amazing!"

"Amazing..." Chad repeated, flexing his fists. They felt... lighter, as though they were begging to be tested out. His right hand crept to the sword at his side, unsheathing it. Instantly, he knew what to say. "_Protejamos todos (Let us protect all), Abuelo (Grandfather)." _The sword crackled and became a scimitar, curved like a snake's fang. Instantly, two wings sprouted from the back of his armor, and a snake-like design covered the rest of his armor. No one could see it, but Chad felt his tatoo fade away temporarily.

"_A similar command to Inoue-san's zanpakutou, but in a different language," _thought Urahara. "_Incredible. Must be a side effect of their powers' having been awakened by Kurosaki-san's protection." _"Now you'll definitely have to release the limiter, Abarai-san."

Renji was amazed, impressed, and excited all at once. Hastily uncovering the limiter's mark, he cried, "_Kai (Release)!"_ and felt the exhilaration of having his power increased five-fold, back to its original state. "Let's go, Yasutora!" he roared, launching Zabimaru at his opponent who easily blocked and counter-attacked.

"Well, now that that's over with, let's get back to work, shall we, Kurosaki-san?" Urahara said, pushing himself out of his gigai and readying Benihime.

"_How can he act so normal after what we just saw?" _Ichigo thought, but said, "Right... I'm ready." But truly, he never was, and tried as best he could to brace himself for the onslaught that would come.

"_Wow..." _thought Orihime, watching as Ichigo fell over from _Shunou Bure'eka Benihime's_ attack. "_Sado-kun... Kurosaki-kun... Abarai-kun... Urahara-san... They're all so strong. I just hope I can get as strong as they are... just enough to defend myself." _With that, she returned to her training with the equally-impressed Rukia.

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That's that for this chapter! You all remember Chad's tattoo on his left arm, right? I thought I might incorporate it into his powers... as you could tell by the last chapter or so, I've been planning Chad's transition from Hollow-esque powers to Arrancar-esque powers for a while.

As always, please review! I love reading your comments and criticisms!


	7. An old friend

Author's Note: Le sigh. One review for the last chapter… oh well, maybe I'll get some more for this one.

Disclaimer: Yeah, whatever

Chapter Seven: An Old Friend

"It's been a while, hasn't it?"

"Yes, it has, Akiko-chan. Over a few centuries, I imagine."

"That's not what I'm called, this incarnation… How come you don't get a title?"

"My boy's just so simplistic that I didn't get a new name. I guess your girl's a little more complex."

"Yeah… you're a lucky one. Always have been, Zangetsu."

"This incarnation of my boy hasn't been so lucky, Hogosha. Mm… do I really have to call you that? Akiko is much cuter."

Akiko smiled. "I guess, while it's just the two of us. You know what else we can do while we're alone?"

Zangetsu returned the smile, leaning in. "I can guess." The two Zanpakutou shared a kiss. After they parted, Zangetsu said, "Your girl's pretty strong this time around, stronger than usual. But I suppose that's due to Ichigo's insane reserves."

Akiko nodded. "I can't wait for her to achieve my final release."

Just then, a riff of light appeared between the two. "They're waking up," said Zangetsu. "I enjoyed this… reminds me of old times."

"Me too. I'll see you, next opportunity." With a wave and a flash of light, the two had disappeared.

Ichigo awoke inside of the training room under the Shoten, a sleeping Orihime beside him. "What a weird dream," he muttered, rubbing his eyes. "Zangetsu was there, but… it wasn't my world."

"Ah! Kurosaki-san, you've awakened!" Urahara said, stepping over cheerfully. "You passed out after the last attack and it was so late that poor Inoue-san had to stay by you and fell asleep. It's a shame that the more you become resistant to Benihime's assaults, the more terrible they become."

"Yeah…" Ichigo said, standing up. The last one had been extremely frightening. Ichigo had dreamt that he'd killed Orihime with his own sword. "Let's… let's just go, one more time."

"You're getting closer!" remarked Urahara. "Your last time, before you passed out, was just over five minutes." Swining Benihime, he rushed at Ichigo.

Ichigo felt the familiar pain of the attack encroaching on his psyche when suddenly… he felt he could move. With a powerful cry, he swung back, effectively blocking the strike.

Urahara was nothing short of stunned. "Wow," he said simply. "Well, that's it. After a month and a half, your Bankai training is complete. Congratulations!"

Smiling, Ichigo swung his sword over his head in satisfaction. He felt lighter than the air, felt that everything around him was moving in slow motion. Disengaging his Bankai, he felt a rush of joy overcome him. But before he could celebrate, however, he had a few questions. "But… does that mean that _Tensa Zangetsu_ will never become more powerful?"

"Oh, of course not," replied Urahara. "Only for now. As your powers grow, so will your Bankai. This just means that your Bankai is at its proper level. The same goes for your Hollow mask."

"But… I haven't trained with my Hollow mask… wait." The gears cranked in Ichigo's head. "Does that mean-"

"That your mask's ability can grow too? Of course it can! That's why I've brought over someone to help train you."

Ichigo gasped. "You don't mean…"

"Yo, Ichigo!" said Shinji, mask on, waving as he leapt towards Ichigo with his Zanpakutou.

"Woah!" Ichigo pulled Zangetsu in front of him, ready to re-engage his Bankai, but Shinji smacked the sword away.

"Nope! Ya don't get to use that… only your mask for now. Your mask augments whatever your base power is tremendously, and since your Bankai is so powerful, I don't think I could take both that and your mask without using… well, let's just say I'd have to put in some more effort, eh? But… since I've been usin' this mask for a long time, I think I could take your Shikai."

"You got it," Ichigo replied, pulling the mask in front of him. "Here I come!"

"Ooh, spooky," Shinji said mockingly. "Don't get cocky, now!"

Instantly, the high-speed battle became increasingly intense. As he fell back into his gigai, Urahara watched the two Vizards and slinked back over to lie down in Yoruichi's lap. "Who would've thought those two would ever meet?" he asked, removing his hat.

"How long has it been since you've seen him?" Yoruichi asked, stroking Urahara's hair.

"Well… we escaped about a century ago… and he did the same about seventy-five years beforehand, so it's a century and three quarters of one."

"Wow."

"Prepare yourself!" roared Shinji, flying at Ichigo, his arm extended. "_Cero."_

"_What? He can fire Cero… of course, he _is _wearing a Hollow's mask,"_ Ichigo thought, dodging the deadly strike. "_I should be able to do the same!"_ "_Cero!"_ he cried, aiming at Shinji. However, nothing came out except a puff of smoke.

"Ah, and now ya see why you have to train your mask some more! There are two parts to the Vizard training. The first is training to use your mask for long periods of time, like you can do now. The second is to train it fully, fulfilling its potential. It works like… a Bankai, if you think 'bout it."

Understanding, Ichigo leapt once more at Shinji, who easily blocked, yawning. "I dunno how you defeated Aizen Sousuke with this pitiful hollow mask. I guess your Bankai must be pretty amazing."

"Shut up!"

"Come and make me!"

The battle raged on for a while until Shinji decided Ichigo needed a break. At that point, Ichigo finally noticed someone who'd been watching them. "… Why did Hiyori come with us?" he asked, pointing at the nearby girl.

Hiyori, with a tint of blush in her face, opened her mouth to speak, closed it, and reopened it, saying, "Shut it, baldy! I just came to watch you get humiliated over and over!"

"Why you-"

"Calm down," Shinji said, knocking Ichigo in the back of the head. "Hiyori. Go hang out with Orihime-chan."

"Screw you, Shinji!" she said, but wandered off to the girl who'd just woken up anyway.

"Hey," Ichigo said grumpily, "Don't go calling her 'Orihime-chan' like that. She's mine, understand?"

Shinji looked genuinely surprised. "So you mean you two are-"

"Yes"

Tilting his head to one side, Shinji said, "Well that's hilarious."

Remembering what he'd wanted to say originally, Ichigo let this comment pass. "Hey, Hirako… how do you know so much about bankai and all that?"

"The thing is," Shinji began, taking a more serious tone, "Out of all the Vizard, Hiyori and I are the only ex-Shinigami."

It was now Ichigo's turn to be surprised. "You… were Shinigami?"

"Yeah. We were even part of the thirteen court guard companies until… something happened."

"What was it?"

Shinji sighed. "It's painful to remember, but here goes. We were high-ranked officers in the court-guard companies, but suddenly, we began to develop symptoms of hollowfication."

"I didn't know souls in Soul Society could become Hollows."

"Normally, they can't. But every so often, something goes awry in the cosmic stream or whatever you wanna think of it as and a soul develops an active inner Hollow. Do you know how they treat it?"

"How?"

"Execution." As he saw the horrified expression on Ichigo's face, he continued. "You see, we're defined as those who have obtained Hollow powers illegally. But the truth is that there is no legal way to do so. It's considered a disease with one cure: assisted suicide. So Hiyori and I were lined up to be pierced by the Soukyoku. We decided that that was bullshit and made a break for it. We manifested ourselves in human bodies and tried to lead a life there, but things weren't so smooth here either. Nearly every human hated us for our abilities. That's why… Hiyori, at least, hates both Shinigami and humans.

"Woah…" was all Ichigo could say, having heard the story. "But… what about the other Vizard? You said they weren't Shinigami. How'd they become Vizard?"

"Before I tell you that story, lemme explain something to you. Having been kinda a bookworm, shocking, yes, I know, but everyone in my company was, I know a lot about Hollows and Hollowfication. So here's the dirty little secret that Soul Society doesn't want you to know: Everyone has an inner Hollow."

"What? How's that possible?"

"Usually, they lay dormant until after death, but in the case of those with exceptionally high spiritual power… they often become attracted to the power. Hollows are creatures born of negative emotions; Fear, anger, jealousy, hatred, sadness, and even greed. In life, they become greedy, attached to the joys of the human body, and if there's enough spiritual power, they can awaken."

Suddenly, Ichigo understood why his Hollow had been able to come so close. His own power had tremendous reserves, so it should only stand to reason that his Hollow was extremely powerful, yet extremely greedy. "Wait… does that mean that everyone who has strong spiritual fortitude will get a Hollow?"

"Eventually, yeah. Some might be lucky enough to wait 'til after death, where the likelihood becomes close to zero. Everyone in this room, save the Shinigami and that big guy, is vulnerable to Hollowfication."

Everyone in the room? But… that only left… "Orihime?"

"Yeah, but don't worry," Shinji answered, waving Ichigo off. "If she were in any real danger, she'd already be a hollow. Luckily, it was your powers that awakened hers, not her own inborn powers. And besides, I'd bet she'd win her interior battle, and after that, it'd be a breeze."

"Why?" Ichigo asked, breathing a sigh of relief.

"She's a carefree girl, wouldn't you say?"

"Yeah, but what's that have to do with-"

"You know Mashiro, right?"

"Sure, but what does-"

"Also pretty carefree, eh?"

Ichigo was becoming angry. "Just tell me what the hell your point is!"

"Mashiro was able to use her Hollow mask for about fifteen hours without breaking it the first time. 'Cause I've studied Hollowfication a lot, I know that it's about how carefree your mind is that determines your Hollow's interior battle and the amount of endurance training needed. You and Hiyori, for example, both took about the longest in your inner battles. But at the time of your mastery of the Hollow mask, you only had one thing on your mind: Killing that bastard, right?"

Ichigo suddenly understood. "Wait… you're saying I'm not carefree?"

"Ichigo, you have so many issues that if all the psychologists in the world teamed up, they would barely know where to start."

Ichigo had to laugh… things were going too well not to. "I got something else to ask you," he continued.

"Hit me."

"How did you find out everything you guys know about me? You knew when I'd obtained my powers, my Shikai, and my Bankai. How and why were you guys watching me for so long?"

"I thought I told ya. Those with sufficient spiritual power have their souls sniffed out by their inner Hollows, and buddy, you have got some spiritual power. We've been watching you for a long time, Ichigo," Shinji said, a devious grin on his face. "We watched as you found Zangetsu. We heard through our channels that you'd mastered Bankai. One of us was right outside your door on the night Kuchiki Rukia gave you her powers. We were even there the day your mother died."

Ichigo's eyes widened. "Wha… why didn't you do anything? Why?" He found that was the only sentence he could muster.

"We did do something," Shinji returned, "We weren't fast enough to save your mother from Grand Fisher, but we were able to chase him away from eating you."

Though he didn't want to, Ichigo accepted this. "Okay… so why didn't you guys act earlier?"

"Originally, we were going to get ya as soon as you started feeling symptoms, but Kuchiki Rukia circumvented that. We knew that you were untouchable as a Shinigami, and that if we tried to help you, it'd be our own asses. Our only choice was to watch you and your inner Hollow develop until you would definitely search for us. Worked pretty well, didn't it?"

"Sure, I guess if you count nearly being stabbed to death by your own soul 'pretty well,' then that was great."

Shinji could only smile at this. "Alright! That's that for talking today."

"Back to training?"

"Nah, we're done today. You had to ward off Urahara's Bankai, and that's a mighty difficult feat. You neeed your rest, Ichigo."

"How… would you know that?" Ichigo asked, confused. Then, he recalled Urahara's words.

"…_you are quickly becoming immune to the attack of Benihime, subjugating it to your will. There has only been one other person to do that... the man who was captain of Twelfth Company before I."_

"No… No way… Hirako, you're-"

"Catch ya later, Ichigo," Shinji said, picking up his Zanpakutou. "Hiyori! We're getting out of here!"

"Don't tell me what to do, Baldy!" she replied, and together, the two were out of there, leaving a very stunned Ichigo in their wake.

-----------------------------

Oh geez! Did I just blow your minds? Well, maybe I did, and maybe I didn't. You'll have to review more to find out.


	8. A light from above

Author's Note: Sorry I haven't been updating… some things have gotten in the way, personal things, but they've mainly passed… for now, at least.

Disclaimer: See last chapter.

Chapter 7: A light from above

"Are you sure, Kisuke?"

"Completely, Yoruichi-san."

"Ichigo has CEG?"

"That's right… a trait which occurs once in thousands of years. Collective Enhanced Growth."

"I guess it's because of that incredible amount of energy he has."

"Well, either way, it explains why everyone is developing as quickly as they should. Someone with CEG causes those around them to grow at a quicker rate than usual… without Kurosaki-san's help, Sado-san and Inoue-san would never have developed their latent powers, much less a _Resurrección _form and Shikai respectively."

"Yeah… I wonder if it's affected anyone else…"

------------------

"Two," Hitsugaya Toushirou said gruffly, ordering his next drink at the bar closest to the Tenth Company's headquarters. He'd been drinking all night, but still hadn't achieved his desired inebriated state. This was because Hyourinmaru, being a water and ice type Zanpakutou, flushed alcohol out of his system in a few moments after ingestion.

Of course, he never used to drink. That was for two reasons. The first was that he never enjoyed the taste of any alcoholic beverage. The second was that he used to be so short the bartender would deny him a drink until he showed him proof that he was a captain. This aspect had changed, however. Recently, he'd had a tremendous growth spurt, shooting him up a foot or two in a few months, finally allowing him to carry Hyourinmaru at his side instead of on his back. His voice had also deepened, and he'd noticed the ladies of Soul Society checking him out. But that didn't matter much to him at this point.

Unfortunately, he'd thought while pondering his new height, this placed his head right below the head of his curvy vice captain, causing him to have to crane his neck each time he looked at her if he wanted to avoid her ample chest. But even his new developments weighed little on his mind. There was only one thing that he thought of.

Hinamori Momo was dead.

After hearing about the death of Aizen at the hands of Kurosaki Ichigo, she began cursing Ichigo, and was so devastated that she had to be put in jail. Every day, the Tenth Captain would come see her, urging her not to spill traitorous words. If she were found to be a traitor, they would execute her. But they never got the chance. Eventually, she slit her wrists, leaving a message in blood on her prison wall, which read, "I cannot live without my Aizen-sama, so I will be with him for eternity."

He hadn't shed a single tear when he discovered the message. After hours of just staring at it, he ran to the nearest bar, hoping to drown his sorrows in alcohol. His Captain's salary was more than enough to pay for the near uncountable drinks he ordered each day, hoping that if he overloaded his system, Hyourinmaru would not be able to flush it out for a while.

"More," he ordered the bartender. "Quickly."

"I… think you've had enough, Hitsugaya-taichou," the man said, washing a mug.

Hitsugaya raised an eyebrow. He put an empty glass in front of him and unsheathed Hyourinmaru. In a few seconds, he slashed countless times at the cup, yet the cup seemed to remain intact. Then, after a moment, the cup collapsed into many perfectly measured pieces. "Yeah. I'm not even tipsy. I'll pay for that, now give me my drinks," he demanded, sheathing his sword.

Over at the other end of the bar, Matsumoto Rangiku watched her captain attempt to drink himself into submission. She hated seeing this, but it was worth it, she would remind herself while she worked on paperwork at the bar ("You? Paper work?" the patrons would say each day), if only for one simple fact.

She loved her captain.

Yes, she loved him tremendously, and had for quite some time. He was strong, and brilliant, and honorable, and though he seemed like a stick in the mud, he did have his soft, easygoing, one he used only in small situations... usually with Hinamori. But this, it seemed, died along with the girl. In its place was this angry attitude that came with a hatred for the world.

Now was her least favorite part. "Taichou?" she asked uncharacteristically softly, approaching. "I… I finished the paperwork left at HQ."

The captain grunted, "Mrmph," through his drink, signifying that he'd acknowledged her words and wanted her to go away.

Suddenly, courage swelled inside Matsumoto's heart. She needed to change his state, his mindset, not just for his sake, not just for her sake, but also for the sake of the entire Tenth Company. "You'll be okay, Taichou," she said, a little more power in her voice. She had to be real with him, reign in her goofy personality, so that she could touch the real part of her Captain's soul, which lay deep within his pain.

Toushirou didn't stop his binge drinking, but just glanced at his vice captain.

"I know… I know it's hard for you, with Hinamori's death," she said, placing a gentle hand on his free one. He smashed his mug down and turned to glare at his vice captain. She shivered, feeling the coldness of his glare and his reiatsu. "I just need you to know that… despite what you think, things will get better. Your heart _will_ heal and you _will_ be able to love again."

Hitsugaya pulled his hand from under hers and slammed it in a fist on the counter, creating a small crater. "How _dare_ you, Matsumoto?" he growled, leaning towards her face, his reiatsu threatening to strangle her. "How? How can you _possibly _suggest that I could love someone other than the one woman I adore?"

She cowered away from him, a cold sweat breaking out. "I-I'm sorry, Taichou! I didn't mean to- I didn't want-"

"What?' he roared at her. "How can you possibly know what it feels like to be me, to have all this happen to you, and to know that you're hurting the woman you've loved for years?"

Matsumoto blinked in confusion? "S-sir…? I'm sorry, I don't unders-"

"Of course you don't," he said, his tone quieting. "I'm talking about you, you idiot."

Time froze for Matsumoto Rangiku and for a moment, and all she could say was "… Excuse me, sir?"

"I love you, Matsumoto," he said, and though his tone was still full of rage, she could hear some remorse, and yet beneath all that... lay some love. He leaned in and began kissing her fiercely.

She kissed him back, and in between partings, tried to get her words across. "Taichou – sir – I just… alcohol is guiding your actions!" she managed to finally get out.

"Alcohol…?" he repeated disbelievingly. "One word, Matsumoto: Hiyourinmaru."

Her heart leapt. Of course, Hiyourinmaru's effect on his system! He was telling the truth! However, something still weighed on her mind. Why had he been so cruel with her if he was in control of his actions?

"Matsumoto," he began.

"Rangiku," she corrected softly, holding him against her pillowesque chest.

"Rangiku," he repeated, his voice cracking. "Oh God, Rangiku… she's dead. She's really _dead."_

As she felt the hot tears spill from his eyes and the sobs escaped his lips she understood. Alcohol hadn't been guiding his cruel actions. Trauma had. "Shh," she said, stroking his spiky silver locks, "Just let it all out, Shiro-chan."

Without any words, they both understood something. She would heal the wounds from Hinamori's death. He would heal the wounds from Gin's betrayal. Throughout it all, their relationship would flourish.

After one longing look into each other's eyes, the two shared one more kiss. Parting, they left the bar, walking hand in hand towards the Tenth Company's headquarters.

"I love you, Shiro-chan," she said, leaning down and kissing one of his fingers.

"I love you, Rangiku," he replied, resting his tired body against hers as they walked.

-----------------

"You were the captain of the Twelfth Company," said Ichigo during a training break after achieving the power of Cero.

Shinji choked on the piece of fruit he was eating. After a fit of coughing, he said, "…'Scuse me?"

"Don't try to play it off," Ichigo pushed, "You knew about Urahara's Bankai and only two people have been able to ward it off: Me and the Twelfth Company Captain before him."

Shinji sighed. "Well, I guess if ya really wanna know, yeah, I was the Twelfth Company's leader before young Kisuke. Hiyori was my vice captain and he was my third seat, nearly as powerful as she was… it looks like if you discount the Masks, he's surpassed us both. Know why that is?"

"Why?"

"It's because we're both from nothing," Shinji explained. "We're not nobles or nothin', just plain ol' guys with talent, and I always told my company, 'Even if you're from nothin', become somethin', somethin' strong, so you can prove everyone else wrong.'"

Something in Ichigo's brain suddenly clicked. That was the reason Urahara had become so strong, despite Twelfth Company's tendency to be more studious than powerful. "_Shinji just said something… kind of cool,"_ he thought.

"You're the same, ain'tcha, Ichigo?"

"Huh?"

"Don't act so confused. Rookie Shinigami masters Shikai in three days, Bankai in another three, and with a total of eight days of trainin;, takes on Soul Society and _wins._ You impressed me," said Shinji. He smiled and said, "Ya know… you would've been a great full-time Vizard, Ichogo."

"I don't speak Kansai," Ichigo returned with a grin.

"That's not what I meant."

"I know," he said, then looked over towards where Orihime and Hiyori were sitting. "I wonder how those two are getting along."

0000000

"Alright, Chesty, tell me whatcha see in Ichigo," Hiyori snapped in her usual aggressive manner.

"_Chesty?" _she pondered her new nickname for a moment, then said, "I love him… because he's kind, loving, dependable, courageous… he's got so many good qualities, but really, I just love him for him."

Hiyori's look softened. "Yeah…"

"Is that what you see in Hirako-kun, Hiyori-chan?"

The monkeylike girl's expression returned to one of perpetual rage. "Are you freaking _kidding _me? How could I, a graceful, beautiful intellectual fall for an idiot like Shinji-baldy?"

"Hiyori-chan…"

She tensed up even more. "Alright, listen, Chesty. This is something even the other Vizard don't know, so if I find out that you've spilled the beans, so help me _God,_ I will find you wherever you are and slit your Goddamned _throat, _understand?"

"Y-yes," she replied, a little frightened by the other girl.

"Good. Now listen up. I _do_ love the idiot. He's just… always been there for me, even through the roughest times."

Orihime smiled. "See? That wasn't too hard, was it?"

Hiyori clenched a fist and growled, "Ugh… hell yeah it was!" Again, her features became less angry and more human. "But… thanks, Chesty."

00000000

"So what is this?" Shinji asked later when Hiyori slumped down in his lap. "Have ya abandoned using me as a weapon and decided ta use me as a chair instead?"

"Shut up," she answered, settling more comfortably into her makeshift seat. "Someone just reminded me how much I like doing this."

Shinji grinned, playing with a pigtail. "Yeah. Me too."

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Aw. Fluffy ending to fluffy chapter. Anyway, review, and more on the plot is to come!


	9. Exile from Purgatory, Descent into Hell

Author's note: I think I'm gonna start doing that thing they do at the beginning of each volume. You know, the little short few sentences. You might recognize this one.

Disclaimer: Don't own it.

Chapter Nine: Exile from Purgatory, descent into Hell.

_Your frail, folded wings are just tired from the pure blue sky._

_You don't have to force your smiles for anyone._

_It's okay to smile… for yourself._

_---------------------_

"_Nake, Benihime (Sing, red princess)!"_

With that as the only warning, suddenly a shot of deadly red energy was fired at each of the three sets of training partners.

"Woah!" said Ichigo, dodging his shot.

"What the hell!" yelled Renji, shaking a fist at Urahara.

"Ah!" gasped Orihime, using her _Santen Kesshun_ to block.

"Sorry folks," said Urahara, "But that's it! Training time's over."

Ichigo realized he was right… there was only a week or so left before the preemptive strike on Hueco Mundo. "Geez… time seemed to flow by so quickly."

"Ah, don'tcha worry about a thing, Ichigo," said Shinji. "You're fine with that Mask."

Turning to the Vizard, Ichigo said, "I gotta thank you for this training… it's really helped out."

"Oh, don't mention it. It's the least I could do, considering we're not fighting in this war. Now, if ya'll will excuse me, I haveta go take a certain crazy monkey girl home." With that, he began walking towards Hiyori, calling out, "Oi! Let's go home, Hiyori!"

For a moment, Ichigo was surprised that Hiyori didn't curse Shinji out at this, but then remembered he needed to take his own lady home. He used Shun-po to get over to Orihime, swiftly picking her up in a fluid motion.

"Woooah!" Orihime said, surpised by this action. "What's going on, Ichigo-kun?"

"I'm getting us out of here. Catch you later, Rukia," he said, before flash stepping out of the training room with Orihime, who giggled as she was carried.

After thanking both Renji and Urahara, Chad walked out of the room in silence, his only farewell a short wave. "Well, it's finally over," Renji said, disengaging and sheathing Zabimaru. "You ready?"

"I think so. How about you?"

"Oh, of course! I'm totally ready to kick some Arrancar ass!" Rukia chuckled as they exited the basement. They'd begun walking out of the shop. "So, uh, was Inoue a good training partner?"

"Yeah, she was great. It's thanks to her that my power's grown so well."

"Good, good…" Renji struggled to keep the conversation going, hoping not to let Rukia stumble in on his interior dialogue. Inside, he was torturing himself, preventing himself from doing what he wanted very much. But there was no more hiding how he felt for this woman, how he needed to hold her.

And so, he reached down and picked her up. "R-Renji! What are you doing?" she demanded.

"Shut up," he said, leaning in, "And let me do this." He closed the gap, planting a gentler kiss than one would expect from his appearance and demeanor. She loved every second of it, so much so that she was too stunned to kiss back. "Listen, I know you're a noble, and that I'm not supposed to do this, and that you could probably never love me anyway, but we're leaving for Hueco Mundo in a week, and- eh? What're you-"

"Shut up," Rukia said, grinning, "And let me do this." She pulled his face down to hers, hoping not to startle him enough that he'd drop her on the cold floor. He didn't, and instead kissed her back, feeling like the cockiest sonovagun on the planet.

---------------------------

"Oi, dad. I might be going away for a few weeks."

"Ichigo, that's great! Manly men should take manly trips to be more manly!"

"Uh… yeah. So I'm gonna spend some time with Yuzu and Karin today. Dad," his voice softened, but his tone grew more serious. "Protect them no matter what… okay?"

"Yes! To be a great father is to protect his young ones, of course! But I too am going away for a few weeks to a medical convention. Luckily, what with you being out of reach so much, I've found someone to take care of my dear sweet daughters! Ah, he's here right now!"

Ichigo raised an eyebrow. "… Who?"

"Booohahahaha!"

"_Okay," _Ichigo thought, not daring to turn around. "_I know I've been your little punching bag for a while now, God. But this little joke? It's not that funny."_

"It is I! Japan's premier spiritualist…"

"_Seriously, God. I get it. You can cut it out, now."_

"D-D-D-Don Kanonji!" Yuzu squealed and jumped before him, bowing down in praise.

"_Damn you, God."_

"Oh boy, it's Karakura King," said a less than amused Karin, descending from the stairs.

"_Karakura King?" _Ichigo thought, "_What the hell… oh, whatever. At least he's got some spiritual fortitude."_ Reluctantly accepting this whacko babysitter, Ichigo did as he'd planned and spent the whole day with Yuzu and Karin, hoping to pack as much joy into one day as he could.

When they became so tired that they fell asleep, Ichigo carried them both and tucked them in. "Dad…" Ichigo said, whispering so that they wouldn't wake the girls, "I'm going to go stay at a friend's house before I leave."

Isshin nodded. "I understand. Be careful out there, Ichigo," he said, abandoning his goofy demeanor for a moment. "You have to come back to us."

Ichigo's expression was pensive for a moment, and then he grinned. "Definitely."

Smiling back at his son, Isshin exclaimed, "Good! Now get going, you wouldn't want to keep your friend waiting." And with that, Ichigo was out of the house.

After Orihime let him in to her place, she said, "Did you get to say your goodbyes?"

"Yeah… but there's still one more person to say goodbye to. Do you… want to come see her?"

"_Her?"_ she thought for a moment, then realized what he was talking about. She felt incredibly honored and flattered that Ichigo would offer her this. "Of course," she said, and went walking with him.

Twenty minutes later, they reached the grave of Kurosaki Masaki.

"Hey, Mom," Ichigo said to the grave, "I know It's not the seventeenth of June yet, but I thought I should say goodbye before I… well, I'm leaving for a while. Also, there's someone I want to introduce to you." He gestured to the woman behind him. "This is Inoue Orihime… and really, I love her. I know you would've loved her too, because she makes me happy… happier than I've been in years, as happy as I was when you were…" he gulped, "Here."

"Ichigo-kun…" Orihime murmured, her heart swelling at his words, "Do you mind if I say something?"

"Go ahead."

"Hello, Kurosaki-san," she said, holding her hands together in prayer. "It's nice to meet you… and as Ichigo-kun said, I really love your son. I promise to protect him and do whatever is in my power to keep him happy. Thank you for bringing such a great man into my life."

As she left the grave, Ichigo pulled her towards him and kissed her. "Let's go home."

------------------

"Ichigo-kun?"

"Hmm?"

"If an Arrancar slips by your team, wouldn't I be safer with you? I'd just be alone."

Over the months, Orihime had tried many times to convince Ichigo that she should go with him on the preemptive strike.

"No, you wouldn't," returned Ichigo.

"Huh?'

"Here's the plan. Ishida can't help the Shinigami because of his promise, but he wants to help in the fight. So you two, along with the workers of the Urahara Shoten, will be holding the fort over here."

"You're… letting me fight?" she asked, eyes wide.

Ichigo nodded. "I've seen your growth… I think you can do it. I have faith in you."

Her eyes glowed with happiness. "Oh, Ichigo-kun, thank-"

"Listen," he said, cutting her off. "For the last three months, my life's been nothing but me being a Shinigami. So for this last week, can I just be Kurosaki Ichigo, highschooler, with his stunning girlfriend?"

Orihime sighed pleasantly. "Of course."

-----------------------

The week passed by too quickly for Ichigo and his friends. He wanted to savor every last moment of what could potentially be his last week on earth. Every moment with Orihime was precious to him; more important than oxygen and nourishment was time with his love.

On the last morning, Ichigo awoke next to Orihime. "Good morning," he said sleepily, planting a kiss on her cheek.

"Mmm…" she mumbled, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "Do you really have to go?"

His expression turned grim. "I'm sorry… They need me on the battlefield."

Orihime looked as though she were on the verge of tears. "I know... I'm just being selfish. I wish this moment would last forever… that this war wouldn't have to be fought."

He sighed, holding her close to him. "Me too," he said, running his hand through her hair. "Me too."

The two stayed in that position until a knocking came at the door. "It's Rukia," said the girl on the other side.

"Come in."

Opening the door, Rukia revealed herself to be out of her gigai, battle-ready. Chad stood next to her, armor ready. "It's time to go, Ichigo."

"Right…" Using the Shinigami Battle License, he removed his soul from his body, Zangetsu on his back. He held Orihime for a brief moment, and then engaged in a fierce kiss. As he parted, he looked into her beautiful cobalt eyes and said, "I love you. It won't be that long, I promise. I'll kick their asses and then be back for you, okay?"

She nodded. "I'll… find Ishida-kun and go to the Urahara Shoten."

"Attagirl. Come on, Rukia, Chad. Let's get going." They reached the meeting place set up by Hitsugaya to find that the rest of the Shinigami were there. "Alright, Toushirou. What's the plan?"

A vein popped up in the captain's forehead. "First of all, it's _Hitsugaya-taichou_, for the millionth time. Second, _you_ tell us what the plan is."

"What?"

"Soul Society has authorized you as a general for this battle, seeing as you've been to Hueco Mundo before and your combat skills are high."

"Do we really need a general for the eight of us?"

"Eight?" repeated Renji, raising an eyebrow. "No, we need a general for them." He pointed behind Ichigo, who turned and saw an army of Shinigami, organized perfectly into several lines.

"Uh… Hi," said Ichigo, not knowing what to do besides greet them.

In a unified movement, all the Shinigami saluted and exclaimed, "Hello, Kurosaki-taichou, sir!"

"T…Taichou?" Ichigo looked at Hitsugaya for an answer.

"You're a temporary Captain for this war. This army is comprised of several members from different companies to give it a balanced power. We call it the 'Special Fourteenth Company,' and you are its captain, Kurosaki."

"You'd better not fail us!" said a gruff voice behind behind Ichigo.

Turning once more, the form of Zaraki Kenpachi appeared in his view, Yachiru on his shoulder. "K-Kenpachi? What… are you doing here?"

"No, I'm not here to kill ya… yet. We, along with a few other captains were brought here because, well… it's not like we can just rely on you and shorty over there to fight the Espada."

"Who else is here?"

"Hey, Ichigo!" called Ukitake Jushirou, who stood next to a few other captains.

"Ukitake-san! Kyouraku-san! Unohana-san!" Ichigo looked around and found a familiar face in the crowd. "Hanatarou!"

"Hello, Kurosaki-sa- er, taichou! Good to see you!" said the boy, waving nervously.

"Yeah, you too… so, uh… where do we enter Hueco Mundo?"

"Urahara-san told us how to create a _Garganta_ to get there," answered Hitsugaya. "We'll open it now."

With that, the giant rift in the sky appeared, allowing entrance to Hueco Mundo. "We're at your command," said Kenpachi, grinning deviously, "… Captain."

"Alright," said Ichigo, a bit nervous about how to lead them. "Follow my lead and let's… go!" he jumped into the _Garganta_, the entire army following him. "_So far so good… no one's noticed us yet… Wait, what's that?_"

Below them, standing in an organized group, were hundreds of Arrancar, hands pointed towards Ichigo's army. "_Oh no… they were waiting for us!"_

_---------------------_

Woah… cliffhanger? Maybe? Yeah? No? Review and review to find out. And yes, I do love the fluffy stuff. But now it's time for actual plot.


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